


The Untamed Hero

by Bookdragon1013



Series: LU Wild Adventures [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Fighting, Gang meets wild fic, Gen, Mipha's Grace, Wild (Linked Universe)-centric, Wild is mute, don't worry no one actually dies, lets just go with this, not sure what else to put, socially-awkwardness-ism-something (its wild guys), tiny bit of swearing, why is tagging so hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28746009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookdragon1013/pseuds/Bookdragon1013
Summary: '“Anyone recognize this Hyrule?” Time asked. The question was met with a chorus of ‘no’s. Twilight frowned and caught Time’s eye. They hadn’t been to a new Hyrule for weeks now, and a new Hyrule meant a new Link.What made this different? Why did Hylia wait so long to send them here?'OR,Another gang meets Wild fic--I know, I know, very original... It's my first fanfic, so please tell me what you thought!
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Four & Wild (Linked Universe), Four & Wind (Linked Universe), Legend & Warriors (Linked Universe), Legend & Wild (Linked Universe), Sky & Wild (Linked Universe), Time & Twilight (Linked Universe), Time & Wild (Linked Universe), Twilight & Wild (Linked Universe), Warriors & Wild (Linked Universe), Wild & Wind (Linked Universe)
Series: LU Wild Adventures [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2124288
Comments: 73
Kudos: 601





	1. New Lands

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm super excited about this. It's a bit longer than I expected, but hang in there! I'm going to try to make this entertaining, but we will see how it actually turns out. Comments, constructive criticism, and kudos are appreciated! 
> 
> Sorry if this doesn't read very smoothly, I'm not great at editing my writing because if I let myself get too carried away I would end up turning this into something completely different.
> 
> LU & original characters belong to jojo56830 on Tumblr, I'm just falling down the rabbit hole that is this wonderful idea.

Link did not like people. 

More specifically, strangers. Zelda and his other friends he could handle, (although even with them he had to get a break from time to time), but strangers terrified him. It was part of the reason why he loved the wild—no one to bother him, no one to ask questions or stare at the twisted flesh stretched over the side of his face. After he defeated the Calamity a few weeks ago, Link traveled Hyrule with Zelda and reacquainted her with the Post-Calamity world. It was daunting to see how much they needed to repair before Hyrule could become a functioning society again. The thing was, Link didn’t like society that much. So after a week of travel with Zelda, Link set out to kill the many monsters roaming Hyrule. 

They didn’t know if the blood moon would still be a problem, but Zelda let him go anyways. She knew what he was really asking. Link was lucky to have a friend like her. The princess was incredible. 

Link was relaxed as he made his way to a particularly dangerous area, because he knew that no one was going to bother him but the monsters. He listened carefully for the large moblin camp he knew was nearby…

...what was that? 

Link stopped in his tracks and selected a broadsword from his Sheikah Slate. If he had known better, then he could have sworn he heard people speaking. 

<><><>

Twilight groaned. Shifting Hyrules was never a pleasant thing, and this time was no different. The Heroes had all landed in a tangled mess of limbs after being jerked out of a peaceful day at Sky’s Hyrule.  _ Hylia can’t have us getting too comfortable,  _ Twilight thought bitterly.

He pushed Legend off of his legs—which was met with a furious curse as the vet crashed into Four—and stood. Twilight barely had to look around before he knew that this Hyrule wasn’t his. A twinge of disappointment skittered through him. It had been a while since he had seen his home, and he found himself missing it, despite all the bittersweet memories there. 

“Anyone recognize this Hyrule?” Time asked. The question was met with a chorus of ‘no’s. Twilight frowned and caught Time’s eye. They hadn’t been to a new Hyrule for weeks now, and a new Hyrule meant a new Link. 

What made this different? Why did Hylia wait so long to send them here? 

“Is everyone alright and accounted for?” Time called after a beat. “Alright as we can be,” Legend muttered under his breath. Warriors patted the shorter hero on the shoulder. “Don’t get your skirt twisted up, Salty,” the hero teased, to which Legend slapped Warrior’s hand away and glared. 

“Does this mean we’re meeting a new Link?” Wind piped up with an excited bounce. Twilight suppressed a smile at how enthusiastic the kid was. “Possibly,” Four said. He seemed lost in thought. “We haven’t gone to a new Hyrule in a while.” 

“That’s true. Which is why we should try to get to the nearest settlement for directions. We have no idea where we are,” Time said. His tone left no room for argument. 

There wasn’t a discernible path nearby, so they set off in a random direction through the forest. Twilight let his gaze wander over the beauty of the wilderness around them, a little breath taken by it. It was full of movement and striking colors, and yet there was also a heavy quiet over the land, despite the chirps of wildlife. A quiet that held unspoken secrets. For a while, all was peaceful as they traversed the woods.

Then they stumbled upon the ruins. 

“What happened here?” Hyrule whispered. The ruins were ancient, barely recognizable as ruins. Moss crawled up the side of the caved-in buildings and plants burst from the shaded corners of the few remaining walls. They did little to cover the ugly black streaks across the stones of the ruins. Burn marks, Twilight supposed. The ruins were relatively large; several buildings, maybe even a small village. The thought saddened Twilight. How many died here? 

“Whoa, what’s that?” Wind exclaimed. He didn’t bother to point it out before racing over to a strange metal structure. Four followed him, staring with wide eyes at the thing. It had a body of sorts, with a cylindrical head and a half sphere body covered in twisting symbols. It seemed harmless enough, but for some reason Twilight shivered when he looked at it.  _ Wrong,  _ a little instinct told him. 

“Hey, be careful!” Warriors called and jogged after the smallest heroes. Legend seemed to be suppressing a smirk when Wind began to climb the thing as Four peered at the metal hull. Time sighed next to Twilight. “These boys are going to be the end of me,” he heard Time mutter before going to help Warriors. 

Twilight hung back with Sky. “Do you think the rest of this Hyrule is like this?” Sky asked. “I hope not,” Twilight said. “Imagine what would have to happen if the entire Hyrule is in ruins.” 

He could see Sky’s shudder. “I don’t even want to think about it,” the first hero said quietly. Twilight hummed his agreement. 

“Hey, guys!” Twilight looked around to find Hyrule at the top of a hill.  _ Of course,  _ he thought. Hyrule was never one to sit still. “Look, I can see smoke! I think somebody is down there!” 

This caught the attention of the others. “Let’s go see!” Wind said and leaped down from the head of the metal structure. He landed gracefully on the grass and urged the rest of them in the direction Hyrule pointed them. 

Twilight realized too late that they were walking straight into a moblin camp. A  _ large  _ moblin camp.

The moblins perked up when the group came to an abrupt stop, sniffing with their large piggish snouts. These moblins were tall and lanky and wielded wicked looking clubs. Twilight held perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe and hoping that the moblins would miss them. 

Of course, the Heroes of Courage had no such luck. 

A moblin locked onto the Heroes like a dog and its food. Its head snapped in their direction and it let loose a bellowing roar, pounding its chest with large fists. This caught the attention of the other moblins, and they released their own bellows. The sound echoed through the forest. 

The moblins began to lumber toward them, long arms swinging. The group tensed and drew their weapons, but before a moblin could reach them, the camp exploded into fire. The moblins howled as they were lit like torches, but they stayed standing. Twilight stumbled back at the heat and shielded his face. A blue blur flashed in front of Twilight, and for a second he thought it was Wind, but Wind wasn’t that tall and he didn’t have a cloak—

The moblins roared again, and Twilight jumped. He brandished his sword and advanced, only to find that a hooded figure was already weaving through the knot of moblins, slicing and dodging with a savage grace. They all watched as the strange man did a loop around the moblins and launched himself into the air, whipping out a bow and fired arrows in an impossibly fast succession. 

The moblins fell to the ground, dead, and disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. 

The man dropped to the ground and tucked away his bow. He adjusted his hood and seemed to shrink into it as the heroes stared at him. Wind was the first to snap out of it, Hyrule quickly following. “Wow, that was awesome, sir!” Wind said. 

“Are you alright?” Hyrule asked, taking a step forward. The man took a step back and nodded underneath his hood. “Thanks for saving us,” said Sky. The man shrugged, a hesitant rise and fall of his shoulders.  _ He’s tense,  _ Twilight thought.  _ Really tense.  _

“You’re the first person we’ve seen. Is...is there a settlement nearby?” Four asked. The stranger shook his head silently. Twilight slumped. It was just their luck to be stuck in the middle of nowhere in an unfamiliar Hyrule. “How far is the nearest village?” Warriors asked. The stranger fidgeted uncomfortably under their attention. Then, hesitantly, he lifted his hands. 

_ ‘Kakariko Village is a four day’s trip on foot. There is a stable relatively nearby, though,’  _ the man signed. Twilight blinked in surprise. 

“What did he say?” Legend whispered to Twilight. “His sign is a bit different than my Hyrule’s but I think he said that Kakariko Village was four days away and that a...stable was close?” Twilight replied hesitantly. “Stable?” Legend asked. Twilight just shrugged. 

“Oh, alright,” Wind said. “Can you lead us to the stable? We’re not from around here and got lost.” The kid put on his most pleading face, and Twilight had to restrain a smirk. Even  _ Time  _ gave in to that face. 

The man bit his lip and gave a slow nod. Twilight could only see part of the man’s face; most of it was hidden in shadow. He wondered why he covered it. 

‘ _ If we can travel fast, the stable is about half a day away,’  _ he said. This time Time translated for the group. Luckily most of them knew the basics of sign language, but the sign the stranger was using was slightly different from most of their own Hyrules’. 

The man set off abruptly, and they scrambled to catch up. “What’s your name?” Wind asked. Twilight didn’t miss how the stranger’s shoulders scrunched up at the young hero’s proximity and how he took a few steps away from the kid. ‘ _ L-I-N-K,’  _ the man fingerspelled. Wind raised his eyebrows and glanced back at Time. “That’s a cool name,” Wind said distractedly before slowing down. “It can’t be that easy, could it?” he whispered. “Could he be the hero of this world?” 

“Maybe,” Time said. “Let’s wait and see, find out what happened here first.” 

<><><>

Link was beginning to panic. 

He had been traveling with this strange group for several hours now and he was struggling to keep his cool. He had never seen a group of Hylian travelers this large before. They were all heavily armed, as well. He considered them to be Yiga, but that didn’t make sense since Yiga footsoldiers almost always traveled alone and never disguised themselves as children. Link was confident that he could take them on in a fight and make it out alive, despite the fact that most of them were larger and stronger than him, but that did little to ease his worry. 

_ Just a little farther,  _ he thought.  _ I can drop them off at the stable and continue with my job.  _

He told himself that through the next two hours of listening to the idle chatter of the eight travelers. “Ugh, how far  _ is  _ this stable thingy?” one of them complained. Link sighed through his nose. It wasn’t far now, maybe another hour, but he didn’t know how much longer he could last. 

“So, Link, what are you doing out here?” one of them asks. Link startled. When did he get there? He must have gotten lost in thought. Link scolded himself for it. What if it was a monster that had snuck up instead? A fatal mistake. 

He forced himself to focus on the man. He had soft, kind features and wore a white cape of sorts. ‘ _ Killing the monsters,’  _ Link replied simply. He found it was easier if he stuck to short sentences in sign, as most of Hylian sign had been lost after the Calamity struck. 

Just another casualty of his failure. 

Cape-Man furrowed his eyebrows. “You were just...out killing monsters? Just like that?” Link gave a one-shouldered shrug and nodded. ‘ _ Now that the Calamity is gone, nothing better to do,’  _ Link signed when Cape-Man still looked confused. (He should probably ask for Cape-Man’s name…). Cape-Man frowned. “What’s the Calamity?” he asked.

Link’s jaw dropped. 

‘ _ How do you not know the Calamity!?’  _ He signed sloppily, in wide gestures and so fast his hands were a blur. He couldn’t help it. Have these people been living under a rock or something? No, even if you lived under a rock you would know what the Calamity was. It had affected every life in Hyrule, killed countless and left the kingdom in ruin, and it was  _ all his fault _ —

He shoved away the overwhelming feelings that rushed over him and returned his attention to Cape-Man. Link had to sign again for him to understand, and he looked like a kid caught with stolen sweets when he understood.

“Well…I...um—” 

“Hey, is that it?” one of the others asked a little too loudly. Link pursed his lips and nodded toward the distant stable only barely visible. He would ask them about where they came from later. A thin trail of smoke floated up into the sky, and the giant horse head could be seen even from their distance. The sight seemed to put a renewed vigor in the odd party, because they made it to the stable sooner than Link expected. The sun was only just beginning to set when Link approached the manager Ember. “Hello, Link!” he greeted cheerfully. He didn’t really know how he still remembered his name, but he waved to him with a smile. “That’s quite the group you’ve got with ya,” Ember said, raising an eyebrow. Link rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and shrugged. “We don’t have that many beds available if you’re staying the night, but they can share and we can set up some bedrolls,” Ember offered. Link nodded gratefully. 

He returned to the group and relayed the message. They thanked him much more than necessary, and he felt his skin crawl under the weight of their gazes. 

“Alright. Who’s turn is it to cook?” one of them asked. He had a long blue scarf that reminded Link of the Champion’s scarves and shiny armor. He carried himself proudly and was quick to grin. 

Moans rose from the seven others. “I cooked last time!” This time it was a short brunette with a green tunic and brown trousers who talked. His mop of curly brown hair was thick and distracting from his boyish features. “Yeah, and you almost killed us with it!” another fired back, one who Link noted with some surprise wasn’t wearing pants. Link waved to get their attention and signed with some amusement, ‘ _ I can cook, if you want.’  _

“Really? Can you cook well?” the small boy in the blue tunic asked.  _ I should get their names sometime,  _ Link thought distractedly. In answer to the kid’s question, he sat down at the cooking pot and began to prepare the food. Link flipped through several options before settling on salmon meuniére. He had taken a liking to the dish since he made it for Genli. 

He forced himself to keep his hands steady as the group crowded around him to watch. They were much too close for his comfort. 

“Ten rupees says he can’t cook,” No-Pants said. 

“Twenty says he can,” Blue-Scarf challenged. 

“Pfft. I say sixty rupees that he will blow our socks off,” another said. 

“Really, Four?” No-Pants asked flatly. The short, headband-wearing kid shrugged. “He looks like he knows what he’s doing,” Four explained. Link suppressed a smile. 

Despite the attention, he found himself relaxing as he expertly crafted the dish. Cooking was like therapy for Link; it soothed him and let his mind fall into the simple task without distracting thoughts. Finally, Link had nine steaming salmon meuniéres ready to eat. The blue tunic kid breathed in dreamily. “It almost smells as good as my grandma’s cooking!” he said. 

Link passed out the meal and waited as the group dug in. 

Four smiled into his salmon. “I think I just got a few rupees richer,” he said, and several grudgingly passed him the money. Link gave a small smile and dug into his own food. 

<><><>

Kakariko Village resembled the land surrounding it in a lot of ways. It was brimming with life and beauty and color, but it also had a content peacefulness to it that the other parts of this Hyrule didn’t contain. Sky quietly admired the village as Link led the group through it. Sky knew they were getting a lot of attention from the villagers. They stopped and stared, whispering loudly to each other. Sky caught, “Master Link… companions … Impa…” and that was it. 

They stopped in front of a grand staircase that led up to what was easily the largest building in the village. Link turned around, and from what Sky could see of it, his expression was serious. ‘ _ You guys aren’t Yiga, I trust,’  _ Link signed. Time translated, and WInd asked, “Who’s Yiga?” 

Link didn’t answer. Instead he took out...bananas??

Link held up the yellow fruit in an almost threatening manner. Sky just stared at him. 

“What the hell?” Legend said. Sky had to agree. 

Link seemed satisfied with their reaction and put the bananas away with a blue flash. Sky still wasn’t sure how his slate thing worked, even after Link had explained it several times on their way to Kakariko. 

‘ _ Stay here. I will talk to Impa,’  _ Link signed. They all perked up at the name Impa. It seemed this Hyrule had one, too. Link turned to the guards flanking the base of the stairs, and they nodded at him before letting the man pass. “It’s good to see you, Master Link,” one of them said. The heroes watched as the hooded man scaled the stairs and disappeared behind the doors of the house. 

“Why did you call him Master Link?” Wind asked the guard. He smiled down at the young hero. “Why wouldn’t I?” he asked. “He  _ is  _ this land’s savior, after all. The Champion and fabled Hero of the kingdom.” 

A quiet fell over the group. So their suspicions had been right. 

“So,” Four said. “When are we going to give him The Talk?” 

  
  



	2. Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talks with good ol' Impa, Legend is skeptical of the new member, Wild freaks out a little, Time tells a really bad pun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Okay, so, this chapter finished a lot faster than I thought. Turns out I'm really good at procrastinating stuff to write. This chapter is also a lot longer than the previous one...
> 
> Thank you so much for the love and support! I'm shocked. Your comments warmed my heart to read, and thanks to everyone who left kudos! 
> 
> Now, without further ado, I present to you chapter two.

Impa was seated upon her pillows as usual. 

When Link entered, and Impa greeted him with a warm smile, he suddenly felt very nervous. He wanted to get her opinion on the group of eight—Impa always seemed to know what was going on—because Link knew that something was off about them. From the strange pull he felt when they first asked him to take them to Kakariko, to their cluelessness about the Calamity and Ganon’s reign, and not to mention the strange names. 

Something was going on, Link was sure of it. 

“Ah, Link. It’s good to see you,” Impa said, gesturing to the floor in front of her. Link knelt, the hard floor pressing against his knees. He pulled his hood down, and it felt nice to have his face in the open, even if it made him feel half-naked without it. 

“You come with companions,” Impa stated. Link nodded. 

_ ‘Do you know if I can trust them?’  _ he asked. Impa sighed, the chains dangling off her large hat swinging in the air. “I must admit, there is something peculiar about them,” Impa began. “But I am afraid I can tell you little more than that. One thing I can say is that you must trust these men with your life.” 

The old woman leveled him with a wizened glare when he raised his hands to sign. “Do not question the knowledge the Goddess has gifted me. Trust these men, and they will trust you. I urge you to talk to them, and when you are done, send them to me,” Impa ordered, and while her voice was sharp, her mouth wore a mischievous grin. Link dreaded whatever Impa had in store for the group. 

“Oh, and the princess sent word that she would be traveling to Kakariko again. If you stay a while longer, I’m sure Zelda would appreciate it.” 

Something in Impa’s tone caught Link’s attention. Was something wrong with the princess? The thought sent him into a panic.  _ Goddess,  _ he was so stupid. He should have stayed with Zelda and kept her safe because he did  _ not  _ want a repeat of what happened a hundred years ago—

Impa chuckled, scattering his thoughts. “Don’t worry, Champion,” she said. The panic he felt must have been showing on his face. “Zelda is in no mortal danger.” 

Link relaxed, but only slightly. There was obviously still a problem. 

_ ‘What’s the matter?’  _ he signed, fighting to keep his hands from shaking. Impa sighed again. “You may have changed from the past 100 years, but in many ways you are still the same,” she said. “I will speak with you about it later. Now go. I want to speak with these companions of yours.” 

Link gave his own sigh and left, descending the stairs to talk with a group of very determined-looking Hylians. 

<><><>

Legend did not trust this new Link. 

He had kept quiet about it for the first bit, but now that they were going to be traveling time and space with this guy, Legend couldn’t exactly sit back. 

Legend pulled Twilight away from the speech Time and the others were giving to a very baffled Link (at least, that’s what Legend  _ thought  _ he was. It was impossible to tell with that damn hood). “What?” Twilight asked. His expression was deadpan, as if he already knew what Legend was going to say. 

“I don’t trust him,” Legend stated simply. Twi snorted. “Of course you don’t,” the hero said. “You have to admit that it’s suspicious, though,” Legend said, glancing at the others. They seemed to be explaining how they all shared the Triforce of Courage, with how all the Links were gesturing to the backs of their hands. From afar, it looked slightly ridiculous if you didn’t know what they were doing. 

“The guy hasn’t shown us his face, and he won’t even talk,” Legend continued. “Not to mention, have you  _ seen  _ how skittish he is? Like a wild animal.” 

He met Twilight’s gaze head on. “You know I’m right. Whoever he is, there’s something seriously wrong with him.” 

“You don’t know that,” Twilight said. “Oh, but I do,” Legend said. “Anyone who pays attention can tell.” 

Twilight pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know what, we’ll deal with this later. As a Hero, we don’t exactly have a choice of whether or not we can take him with us. And as fellow Heroes of Courage, we’re practically obligated to accept him.” The older hero raised his eyebrow at the group. “I think they’re going to need our help. Sky’s about to pull the Master Sword trick.” 

<><><>

Link was surrounded by a bunch of lunatics. 

It was almost hilarious how devoted they seemed. Did they really think that he would believe them? Link had to admit, the story they crafted was quite elaborate. All he could do was watch, baffled, as they chattered on about the Triforce and Courage and time travel and the Goddess Hylia. He was concerned about the infected monsters part. He hadn’t noticed any black blood from the monsters he had killed, but what if their claim had some truth to it? Stronger monsters are never a good thing. 

The heroes fell quiet, waiting for a reaction. 

“So, um, are you going to come with us?” Wind asked. Why anyone would name their child Wind was a mystery to Link, but if they were to be believed, Wind was a nickname and the kid’s name was the same as his own. Link hesitated. How in Hylia’s name was he going to answer that question? 

“Look, I can tell you don’t believe us,” Time said. “But we can prove it. Sky?” 

Sky stepped forward, looking a little nervous. Two other heroes rejoined them (Twilight and Legend, Link recalled) as Sky pulled a sword from his back. The scabbard of the sheathed sword was wrapped with a cloth, which was strange. Link frowned as Sky sat down on the ground, motioning for Link to do the same. Hesitantly, Link did as he was asked, and stared as Sky pulled the cloth from the scabbard and unsheathed the sword. 

Link blanched. What the  _ hell _ . Where did they find a blacksmith to recreate the Master Sword?  _ How  _ did they recreate it? This was taking it too far,  _ too far _ —

“Wait!” Sky cried when Link began to scramble to his feet. “It’s okay, calm down!” 

Oh, there was no way he was going to do that. Link’s head roared. This was a disgrace, a crime, and Goddess knows what he would do if this goes any further. 

“You can trust us,” Sky said, holding the sword out to Link. That made him pause as Impa’s words echoed back to him. “Fi will tell you the truth.” As if to confirm this, the blade blinked with a familiar blue glow.

_ Fi?  _ Link wondered. Despite how wary he was of these men, Link supposed he could humor them a little longer, even if it was just to sate his curiosity. 

Link slowly reached out and brought his fingertips to the cool metal of the blade. 

The sensation was strong, shocking. Link leaped away from Sky and the Master Sword, goosebumps spreading over any exposed skin. The voice inside was so much stronger than the one he knew, strong enough to make him flinch. The message it told him was even scarier.

“Whoa, whoa, it’s okay!” Wind said as Link began to back up. Link shook his head furiously. 

He needed to get out of there, so Link ran. 

He heard the other’s shouts behind him but didn’t slow down. He soon lost the Heroes—Goddess, they were  _ Heroes _ —and didn’t stop for a while after that. He stopped somewhere around Telta Lake, breathing heavily. Then he curled up in the grass and stared at the glimmering water. 

It was all true. 

_ You must trust these men with your life.  _

Did they fail like him? Did they lose everyone and let an entire  _ kingdom  _ fall to ruin? 

Link didn’t think so. 

He didn’t know how long he sat there, terrified and trying to gather the courage to face them again. He shouldn’t have run away from them like that.  _ Like a coward,  _ he thought. He was a damn coward. 

Link finally returned when the thought of Impa waiting on him surfaced. The Sheikah woman had already waited a hundred years for him, and Link didn’t want to have anyone waiting on him ever again. 

He just needed to hear from someone else first. 

The others were nowhere to be found when Link returned (they were probably looking for him), and he was relieved. It would make this much easier. 

Link knelt in front of the Goddess Statue, clasping his hands together in front of his nose. In the corners of his vision torchlight flickered, but that was drowned out by the glimmering radiance that flooded over the statue. 

_ Goddess Hylia, hear my prayer,  _ he thought. 

**_I listen, Hero_ ** _.  _ Her voice was soft and melodious, but held such power that it made Link’s heart ache every time. 

_ These men _ — _ these Heroes. . .are what they say true?  _

**_Yes. They hold the Hero’s Spirit and hail from Hyrules of the Distant Past._ **

_ Why are you gathering us? What is so terrible that it requires all of us?  _

**_An evil I cannot prevent myself. It will take the Heroes across time gathered together in a mighty force to defeat. The most I can do is offer you this: The threat is not what you would expect. I urge caution, Hero._ **

_...Is that really the most you can do?  _

**_My time is running short. Now go, and bring peace to Hyrule…_ **

Link opened his eyes and sighed. He really didn’t have a choice now. He was surprised that Hylia even gave him a straightforward answer—most of the time she evaded what he really needed to hear.

“Hey, guys, I found him!” 

Link spun around, eyes flying wide and hand shooting to his sword, before he realized it was just Hyrule. He remained tense, though, as he crossed the small bridge to solid land again. 

_ ‘Sorry for running off,’  _ Link signed when everyone was gathered. “You don’t need to apologize. I get how overwhelming this can be,” Twilight said. Link just hunched his shoulders.  _ ‘I will go with you,’  _ Link signed after a moment. 

“Great!” Wind said. “But, I mean, you would have gone anyways since Hylia would have just teleported you with the others.” That statement got a one-eyed glare from Time. Wind just grinned sheepishly. “What were you doing over there?” he asked, pointing to the statue. 

_ ‘Talking to Goddess Hylia,’  _ Link replied. 

The other heroes’ jaws dropped. Link sank into his hood under the weight of their openmouthed staring.

_ ‘Impa wants to talk to you,’  _ Link signed quickly, desperate to change the subject. It brought the others to their senses and after a moment of explaining to Cado and Dorian, they were heading up the stairs to meet Impa. 

<><><>

Impa raised an eyebrow as the group filed into the room. “You certainly take your time, Champion,” she said. Link felt himself flush with embarrassment.  _ ‘Sorry, it won’t happen again,’  _ he apologized. Impa waved him off. “You needn’t apologize. I’m surprised you came at all,” she said, which only made him feel worse. Was he really that much a coward, that Impa would hold such low standards for him? 

The Sheikah turned her attention to the Heroes waiting politely behind Link. “Well, well,” she said with a delighted hum. “I never thought I’d come to see nine Heroes of Courage before me.” 

At their shocked silence, Impa smiled and told them to sit. “I’m sure you all have questions, and I certainly have my own. Link, would you gather Paya from upstairs? I think she would like to be here as well.” 

Link knew that Impa was just giving him time away from the others, and he was grateful for it. He didn’t want to deal with the painful recounting of Hyrule’s history with the Calamity, and he trusted that Impa would leave out the parts concerning him. Link met Impa’s gaze just before disappearing up the stairs. She gave him a small nod, and he nodded in return. 

Link knocked on the open frame of Paya’s room. He peeked his head in and Paya nearly crashed into him. 

“M-master Link!” Paya exclaimed. “Oh, I am so sorry! Are you alright? Oh dear, oh dear oh dear—” Link cut her off with a wave and smiled, trying to ease the poor girl’s stress.  _ ‘Impa wants you downstairs,’  _ he signed to her. “O-oh, okay,” Paya said. She twisted her hands in front of her nervously. 

“Are...are you going to come back down?” she asked when he didn’t move to join her at the stairs. Link shook his head. 

_ ‘I think I’ll wait,’  _ he signed. 

<><><>

When Link vanished upstairs, an awkward silence filled the gap he left behind. Twilight shifted his position on the floor, feeling uncomfortable. 

“Alright, I’ll start. What happened here?” Warriors asked. The old woman Impa sighed. Twilight marveled at how much his own Impa resembled this Hyrule’s. 

“Put simply, the Calamity. It ravaged the prosperous kingdom of Hyrule 100 years ago with a plan no one saw coming—he took the castle and corrupted the ancient technology that was previously used to beat the Calamity 10,000 years ago. This once great land fell to ruin and thousands died. But not long ago, a hero rose to defeat the Calamity, and he did so, saving our beloved Princess Zelda—who had been bravely holding off Calamity Ganon for an entire century—in the process. That hero was Link. Now we can finally begin to heal, and rise to another era of peace.” 

A hush fell over the heroes. “...oh,” Warriors said. 

“Any other questions?” Impa asked. 

“Yeah,” Legend said. “What’s wrong with Link?” 

“Legend!” Time exclaimed. Legend just gave an offended look. “What?” he asked. “I just want to know.” 

Impa chuckled. “That, I’m afraid, is for the Champion to tell.” 

“Oh, really,” Legend said dryly. “So we’re just going to trust him when he doesn’t even show his face?” 

The group stayed quiet, and Legend sighed. “He came downstairs, didn’t he.” 

“Well, Link? Do you want to answer his question?” Impa asked. Twilight noticed how Link’s hands trembled and twitched. 

_ ‘No, thank you,’  _ Link signed. His hands shook so hard it was a miracle Twilight could understand it.

“Oh, come  _ on, _ ” Legend said. “Are we seriously just going to let him do that? At least make him show his face!” 

Twilight shared a glance with Time. This was going to go south real fast if they didn’t intervene soon. 

“For once I agree with Legend,” Warriors said quietly. 

“It would be nice if we could see his face,” Sky agreed with an apologetic wince to Link. 

“ _ Thank  _ you,” Legend said. He turned to raise his eyebrows at Time. “Come on, Old Man. Admit I’m right.” 

“Alright, alright, let’s calm down,” Time said instead of replying. “It’s Link’s choice.” 

They all turned to face Link, the poor guy looking like he was going to bolt at the drop of a pin. Jerkily, Link ripped the hood from his head, and everyone stopped. 

Twilight noticed the scars first. He was pretty sure everyone did. Twisting gruesomely over the left side of Link’s face, they continued down his neck and trailed down underneath his tunic, where more of them certainly lay. Twilight didn’t even want to  _ think  _ about what gave him those scars. 

The second thing Twilight noticed was how young Link was. Maybe two years older than Wind. His hair was long, really long, pulled back in a loose ponytail. The kid was handsome, if you could get past the scars. 

_ Dear Hylia,  _ Twilight thought. He heard several sharp intakes of breaths around him. 

After another uncomfortably long moment, Link pulled his hood back up and let himself out of the room. 

“...Shit,” muttered Legend. 

“I think we can all agree that went horribly,” Four said. “We’d better go apologize…” Sky said guiltily. Twilight patted the first hero on the shoulder. “I don’t think any of us could have anticipated what would happen,” he told Sky. He grimaced. “I still feel bad,” Sky admitted. 

“Pretty sure we all do,” Warriors said. 

“You knew this would happen,” Four accused Impa. She just smiled to herself. “Oh, don’t mind me, I’m just a simple old lady,” she said. Four narrowed his eyes. “...Sure you are.” 

“Uhm,” a girl piped up from the corner, (Paya?) “If you’re going to go apologize to Master Link, I suggest you hurry. He, um, tends to be a little flighty.” She blushed a furious red and looked down. The heroes thanked her and left.

They were too late. Link was already out of sight. 

Time sighed. “This is Twlight all over again,” he heard his mentor mutter. Twilight gave him an indicant frown. “I can hear you, you know,” he said, even though Time was right. He had given the man a hard time after their first meeting—Twilight running off into the woods and melting into the shadows as a wolf. After a few hours of watching Time’s futile search, Twilight eventually showed himself (accidentally, stupidly, revealing his secret in the process), and after a lengthy explanation, they were introduced to Sky, then after that Four, followed by Warriors, Legend, Hyrule, and Wind. 

“Should we try dowsing for him?” Sky asked. Time sighed. “Might as well, it’s getting late.” 

Sky pulled the sword from his back and furrowed his brow in concentration. He slowly waved it around, the blade pulsing with blue. “That’s weird…” 

“...It says he’s right here,” Sky said, frowning down at the polished wooden deck. 

“Maybe he’s under the deck?” Wind offered, and stuck his head under the fence framing the deck. He curled around the deck, and for a dangerous moment Twilight thought the kid was going to fall, until Wind shouted: “Hey, look, I found him!” 

Twilight hopped over the fence and crouched down to peer underneath before anyone else could react. Sure enough, Link was there, with his hood pulled up over his face and the rest of the cloak wrapped around him. Twilight ducked his head and crawled underneath the deck as well, being careful to keep his distance. 

“Hey,” Twilight started awkwardly. He was, unfortunately, not the best at this whole supportive thing. They had Sky for that. 

“Look, I know that...didn’t...go well, but we didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said. Link held perfectly still, so still it was almost like Twilight was talking to a wall. 

“It's just we’ve all had our fair share of betrayals and gone through some tough things.” Twilight’s voice caught. He forced himself to keep going; now wasn’t the time for his own wallowing feelings. “It can make it a little hard to trust. So, um, sorry about that. We understand how scary it can be on that journey...whatever you had to do, whatever happened, just know it’s okay.” 

He waited a minute, not sure what to do after that. “So...do you want to come out now or…?” 

Slowly, Link uncurled from his position and lifted his hands to sign.  _ ‘I’m sorry,’  _ he signed. Twilight made a face. “You don’t need to apologize for anything,” he said.  _ ‘But—’  _

“Let me stop you right there,” Twilight said, holding up his hands. “Whatever you’re guilty about, don’t worry. You didn’t do anything wrong. Just...just trust us, okay? Hylia has a plan for us, and it's a good idea for us to get along as we do it. Here, come out so the others can talk with you, too.” 

Whatever Twilight said, something roused the hero. Link cautiously followed him out from under the deck to face the rest of the group. 

“We’re so sorry, Link!” Sky said. “We didn’t mean to hurt you.” 

“Yeah,” Hyrule said. Everyone else voiced their apology as well, even a grumbling Legend. Twilight could see how guilty the vet was, despite how hard he tried to hide it. 

“This is probably a really bad time,” Four said, “But shouldn’t we be giving him his hero title by now?” 

<><><>

Sky settled down with the Master Sword in his hands, calling to Fi. He felt the other heroes gather around him. The Chosen Hero listened carefully to what Fi whispered to him, and after a short moment, he opened his eyes again. “Hero of the Wild,” Sky breathed. 

After a beat, Legend said, “...Well, that’s probably one of the most accurate names of us all.” 

“What do you think?” Sky asked Link.  _ ‘It’s…’  _ Link’s—no,  _ Wild’s _ —hands fumbled.  _ ‘I don’t really have the words.’  _

A now-familiar itch started at the base of Sky’s skull as the hum of a portal thrummed in their minds. Warriors groaned. “A portal? Now?” he said. 

“Hylia certainly has her timing,” Time remarked. Legend coughed. “Har har,” he said sourly. “What?” Hyrule asked. “Time,  _ ‘timing _ ’,” Legend explained. Hyrule grimaced. “That  _ was  _ pretty bad,” he told the older hero, who just smirked. 

“Don’t worry, it’s just a portal,” Wind said to a freaked-out Wild.  _ ‘Portal?’  _ he asked. 

“When we go through one of these we get sent to another Hyrule,” Twilight said. “It’s how we got here.” 

_ ‘So we’re leaving, now?’  _

“Yeah. Is there a problem?” 

_ ‘I never got to say goodbye to Zelda.’  _

“...oh.” 

“We need to get going,” Time said. “Hyrule, Legend, and Sky, you’re up front. Wild, you can go in the middle with me and Twilight. Warriors, Wind, and Four, you bring up the back. Ready?” 

“Ready. Let’s get this over with,” Legend said, grabbing Hyrule and Sky, and pulling them through the swirling void. 

Twilight stepped up next to Wild. “It’s okay. It’s not that pleasant an experience, but it's over quickly. Just stick close to me and you’ll be okay. Sometimes we’re separated, sometimes we aren’t. It’s why we go through in groups.” 

Wild nodded, his left hand clutching his Sheikah Slate. Time stepped up next to them, and together the three entered the portal. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to Legend for making him kinda a jerk...I'll make it up to him sometime. 
> 
> Alright, this is where stuff happens I think. This next chapter...I have no idea which Hyrule we're going to yet, but there's definitely going to be some fight scenes and the crew gets to see just how wild Wild really is.


	3. Outsider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twilight's Hyrule, some fighting, Wild is real stubborn about bedtime, Warriors pulls a trick from Time's book and puts on the Dad hat for a minute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, another chapter! This one took me a minute. And, wow, 1,000+ hits! Thank you so much! 
> 
> *Thinks of what I had planned for this chapter* lol, that went out the window 
> 
> A warning for some graphic fighting.

Zelda gasped, clutching her chest. She stumbled to a stop, causing the rest of her entourage of Royal Guards to halt. Well, not exactly Royal Guards. But they were some of the few Hylians left who could properly wield a sword and were willing to serve her.

“Are you alright, Your Majesty?” Kyle asked. “...Fine,” she replied in a whisper.

It was gone.

The bond between her and Link...while it had been weakened when Zelda relinquished her state as a divine entity, it had remained. Sure, she couldn’t speak to Link across Hyrule anymore, but at least she could still feel him. She could sense his presence, steady and strong, and found everlasting comfort in it.

Now it was _gone_.

A terrible chill settled over her. Zelda’s breath grew short and panic fogged her mind. If the bond was gone, what did that mean for Link? She could only think of two possibilities. Either their bond was simply deteriorating and this was it finally fading away, or Link was...he was…

If it was just the bond fading away, Zelda would anticipate it to be more of a gentle passing. But this was violent, ripped away from her with a cruel suddenness. There was a gaping hole in her where the bond was moments ago.

Zelda sucked in a shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes shut. _It’s going to be okay_ , she told herself, but the princess didn’t truly believe it. Something was terribly wrong.

<><><>

Link—no, he was Wild now—staggered as they came out on the other side of the portal. This was different from teleporting with the Sheikah slate. Instead of being torn apart and put back together again, going through the portal felt like walking off a cliff without realizing it. The ever-shifting purple was nauseating and disorienting, but Wild was used to that part. The others weren’t as accustomed to that, it seemed, because Legend looked a little more than green as he leaned against a nearby tree.

Next to him, Twilight breathed in deeply. “We’re in my Hyrule,” he announced.

Wild looked around. The forest wasn’t densely populated, but the wide-boughed trees held deep shadows. The sun was low in the sky, treetops slicing through the yellow glow. Night would fall soon.

“We should make camp,” Twilight said when everyone had gathered their wits. “I think I know where we are, but I want to scout and make sure.”

“Alright, you heard him,” Time said. “Is there a good place to set up camp nearby?”

Twilight hummed thoughtfully. “I think a little north from here there’s a nice clearing free of monsters.”

They continued to talk about camp and who should be on watch, but Wild tuned them out. He pulled out his Sheikah Slate and pulled up the map. It was a blank static on the screen, with the word ‘Error’ in the center. Wild sighed. He knew this would happen, but it was still disappointing. Thankfully, everything else was in working order.

It took a moment for him to realize that the group was moving, probably heading for the clearing Twilight was talking about. He quickly caught up to them, but kept his distance in the rear. He still didn’t know these men, when it came down to it.

A strange looking plant caught Wild’s attention. He veered off the path immediately, Sheikah Slate already in his hands. He crouched down and snapped a picture. Wild frowned when nothing came up for the Hyrule Compendium, and leaned down to examine the plant further. Zelda would be all over this, if she was here, so he was careful to burn it into his memory.

He hoped he would see Zelda again. They had so little time together, and Impa never told him what the problem was.

“Wild?”

He jumped, startled out of his thoughts. Hyrule held up his hands in a defensive manner. “Um. Sorry,” he said. “But...what are you doing? The others are getting ahead of us.”

Wild stood, slightly embarrassed. _‘Sorry, I was documenting a plant for Zelda.’_

Hyrule squinted, taking a moment to understand Wild’s signing. “Oh, okay,” he said awkwardly. For a moment they just stared at each other, before Wild returned to his senses and began to return to the path. Hyrule followed close behind.

They returned to the group and found the clearing. Camp was set up, and Wild began to prepare dinner. Night fell soon after Wild finished cooking. He passed out dinner as everyone gathered around the fire. As he sat down a good distance from the others, a different glow, other than the fire, caught Wild’s attention.

He waved to get Twilight’s attention. “Yes?” he asked. Wild pointed to the glow in the distance. _‘What’s that?’_ he asked.

“Oh, that’s Castle Town.”

Wild’s eyes widened. _That_ was Castle Town? With that glow, it must be positively huge.

Was his Castle Town like that, before the Calamity? Wild wished dearly that he could remember. He only had small glimpses of it in some of the memories he recovered.

“What’s your Castle Town like, Wild?” Wind asked. A pit opened up in his stomach and he paled. Shame flooded through him but he bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself grounded. If Wild let himself get too carried away, his thoughts would spiral into oblivion.

He lifted shaking hands. _‘It’s in ruins. Not a town anymore.’_

The group fell silent, and Wild shrank into his hood. Wind seemed to be struggling to find something to say.

“My Hyrule is in ruins too,” Hyrule said quietly.

“I’m going to go scout the area,” Twilight said abruptly. “I’ll come with you,” Four said, stretching as he stood. Even with his arms straight up, his hands barely reached Twilight’s head.

“Well, it’s probably about time to get to sleep,” Time said. Everyone welcomed the change of subject. “Any volunteers for the first watch? Twilight and Four won’t be gone long.”

Wild raised his hand. Time nodded. “Alright. Usually the new member doesn’t get incorporated into the schedule until later, but that’s alright. Who’s going to volunteer for second watch?”

Warriors raised his hand. “I got it, Old Man,” he said. “Pretty Boy taking second watch? Sacrificing his beauty sleep? I never would have guessed,” Legend drawled. Warriors scowled. “You’re one to talk. You’re nearly as bad as Sky,” he retorted. Legend huffed.

They continued to bicker as Wild planted himself at the edge of camp. The fire crackled behind him and the night felt...peaceful. He could almost relax as he leaned against the tough bark of a tree.

But of course, good things never lasted long.

After a good fifteen minutes, when everyone was settled in their bedrolls, a loud crashing sound caught Wild’s focus. Moments later, Four came crashing through the trees with wide eyes. “Infected lizalfos, coming our way!” he shouted. “A lot of them!”

Wild shot to his feet. Everyone else began to scramble for their weapons and armor. _‘Where’s Twilight?’_ he asked. Four gulped in the air and pointed behind him. “He stayed behind to hold them off. He’s all alone out there...”

That was all Wild needed to hear before bolting off into the forest. He didn’t know where Twilight was, but his ears could lead the way. He heard Four’s shout of “Wait!” behind him and ignored it. He strained to listen for sounds of battle. He didn’t know Twilight all that well, didn’t know any of them, but he knew Twilight was one of the few who tried to be nice to him.

There. He could hear the screech of the lizalfos and the crash of blades meeting. Wild pushed himself faster, breaking through the trees to meet open plains. Twilight was pinned against the hill, slowly losing ground as the numerous lizalfos attacked. Wild didn’t hesitate and leaped into the air, pulling out a bow and arrows. He couldn’t risk using bomb, fire or electric arrows with Twilight so close to the enemies, so he would have to rely on normal ones. Wild felt the world grow near-still as he notched the arrows, bow creaking. When the feathered tips reached his cheek, Wild loosed the three arrows and watched with satisfaction as they hit their targets with dead accuracy.

He switched his bow for a Knight’s Claymore and spun in the air, smashing the blade into the nearest lizalfos. It split the monster clean in half, spraying Wild with black blood. He winced as he felt a resounding crack through the blade. He only had a few Knight’s Claymores left.

He would worry about it later. Fighting in the dark was never easy, but the bright moon overhead helped immensely with the visibility. Wild hacked and slashed with the damaged claymore, not getting a break between enemies. He began to wonder if it was such a good idea to leap straight into the thick of the mob.

He knew his weapon was on its last legs, so Wild heaved the massive thing and hurled it into one of the lizalfos. It speared the monster through the gut and shattered, the hilt falling to the ground at the lizalfos' feet. The lizalfos joined the hilt on the ground a moment later.

Wild scooped up the lizalfos’ broadsword and felt the air shift behind him. Acting out of instinct, he whirled around and brought up the sword just in time to block an attack from yet another lizalfos. How were there so many? These lizalfos were strong, too, very strong. Wild stumbled back as the lizalfos hissed in his face and snapped at him with sharp teeth. He heard more lizalfos behind him. Hylia, would he ever catch a break?

Wild stepped back and let the lizalfos fall at the sudden absence of resistance. It’s sword buried itself in the ground, and the monster tugged at the sword, trying to pull it away. Wild brought his sword down on the lizalfos, removing the arms, but another sword beat him to the killing blow. Wild looked up to see Twilight, splattered with gore, panting heavily. Behind him were the others; when did they get there?

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked. Wild nodded dumbly. He should have noticed the others, how did he get so caught up in the battle?

A lizalfos—one of the remaining few, Wild noted—pushed itself back to its feet and notched an arrow.

Aimed right at them.

Wild let out a strangled cry, fire burning in his throat at the action, and pushed Twilight out of the way. He dived out of the way as well, but it was too late. Pain flared in his shoulder as the arrow slammed into it.

He sat up with a wince. Twilight muttered a curse and hurried back over to him, the lizalfos already dead. “Hold on, I can get Hyrule over here. I know I have a red potion somewhere…”

Wild sat up and wrapped his hand around the shaft of the arrow. Steeling himself, he pulled hard.

“Um,” Twilight said as he stared at the bloodied tip of the arrow. “I’m...pretty sure you’re not supposed to do that…”

Wild rolled his shoulders, examined the wound. It didn’t hurt all that much, he’d certainly had worse, but the arrow’s edge had been serrated. When Wild pulled it out it ripped out more flesh than it should have, leaving a jagged hole behind and pouring out blood.

“Drink this,” Twilight said, holding out a bottle full of red liquid. It almost looked like a hearty elixir, but not quite. _‘I’m fine,’_ Wild signed. All he needed was a bandage. _‘I’m sure someone else needs it more than me.’_

Twilight made a face and turned toward the others, who had finished off the last of the lizalfos. He called Hyrule over and said, “Do you agree this needs medical attention?” with a dramatic gesture to Wild’s arm. He resisted rolling his eyes. They were making a big deal of nothing.

Hyrule winced in sympathy. “You should drink the red potion,” he said. “Everyone else made it out with shallow cuts at worse.”

Wild pursed his lips and grabbed the bottle. He took a small sip, making a face at the bitter taste. If only he had some hearty elixirs left.

“You have to drink more than that,” Hyrule said, so Wild took another tiny swig and handed the bottle back to Twilight. He showed the two the shiny new scar when they still didn’t look satisfied. “It wouldn’t have scarred if you had drank more,” he heard Hyrule mutter.

Wild decided to ignore that comment and surveyed the aftermath of the battle. The grass was littered with monster parts, leftover weapons, and black blood. He glanced down to himself to find his Champion’s Tunic absolutely soaked in the infected blood. Wild wrinkled his nose. That would be a pain to get out.

He was wondering where he would find a stream to wash his clothes when Time came up to him with an imposing expression. Wild looked up at the man, already knowing—and dreading—what would happen next. In their short time together, Wild had gathered three things about Time.

One, he was the unofficial leader. Everyone listened to his orders and rarely talked back.

Two, he was among the quieter of the group. When he did speak it was with absolute authority or a strangely childlike humor and merriment. There was a confusing absence of an in-between.

And three, he was seen as the ‘father figure’ of the group. Among the oldest, with a stern exterior and a kind interior, Wild could see how this would come about.

Now that man was looking down at Wild with cold fury and disappointment.

“What, exactly, were you thinking?” Time asked. His voice was cool, but they made Wild shrink away regardless. “You’re part of a team now. You can’t just go running ahead. You could’ve been killed.”

 _‘I’m sorry,’_ he signed. Time sighed. “Look, I know it’s tough to adjust to a group dynamic. Most of us were alone on our journeys and are quite solitary. Just try to be careful, okay?”

Wild ducked his head and signed another apology. _‘I’ll do better, I promise.’_

Time nodded. “I hope that’s true.”

Wild swallowed nervously. That wasn’t a threat, was it? He tried not to think about what those words could mean. He had to trust them, like Impa said.

They began to return to camp, Legend grumbling about Sky falling asleep on him. Wild trailed behind at the rear of the group, feeling extremely out of place in the large group. He was used to having only the sound of the nature around him as he traveled, not the chatter of eight heroes.

Twilight fell back to walk alongside Wild, keeping a good distance between them, which Wild was grateful for. “Hey, uh, thanks for what you did back there,” he said. Wild just shrugged. “Really. If you hadn’t gotten there when you did, I would have been a goner.”

Someone called Twilight over, and he shot a glance at Wild before going to see what the matter was. Wild slumped. _How am I ever going to fit in here?_ He thought. From what he had gathered, no one else had failed to defeat Ganon the first time. They were all so easy going with each other, the banter light hearted and anyone could see how close they were. Wild was the odd one out, with his scars and how he didn’t talk. The language barrier was frustrating. Half the time he needed a translator, and he couldn’t join in on many conversations without having to make everyone else pause for him to get one meaningless thing out.

Wild settled back into his watch thinking about Zelda. Was she okay? Did she know he was gone, and was she worried? He hoped not. The princess had enough on her plate without Wild being another issue.

He scowled and twisted his hands in his lap, nails biting sharply into his palms. He was nothing but a burden and unwanted presence to everyone he knew.

“I can take over from here.”

Wild looked up to see Warriors. The older raised his eyebrows. “What, you going to fight me on this?” he asked, looking very confident he would win. Ha. “You probably fought the hardest of all of us, so you deserve a rest. Besides, I’ve got plenty of energy to burn.”

Wild looked away and refused to budge. He didn’t know how, and didn’t really want to explain to Warriors why he didn’t want to sleep. Warriors heaved a dramatic sigh. “Come on, kid,” he said. “Don’t tell me you’re not tired.”

Wild scrunched up his face. He didn’t want to think about how tired he was.

“Aha, see?” Warriors said. He nudged Wild with a cautious boot. “Go sleep.”

He heaved a sigh, putting as much resentment and reluctance as he could muster into it, and stood. _You’ll regret this,_ his glare to Warriors said. “Yeah yeah,” Warriors waved his hand. “Shoo, you pesky night owl. It isn’t healthy to make yourself run on fumes alone.”

Wild narrowed his eyes and turned around, eyeing the trees. He finally chose one with a web of wide branches that looked safe enough to sleep in. Hopefully his nightmares wouldn’t be so bad tonight, because he didn’t want to have to deal with falling from a tree.

“Um, what are you doing?” Warriors whispered when Wild scrambled up the trunk. _‘Sleeping,’_ Wild replied, but he wasn’t sure if Warriors could make out the sign, far away as he was in the dark.

Warriors massaged his temple. “Here, just come sleep on the ground like a normal person,” he said, pointing to the other sleeping bundles clustered around the glowing embers of the fire. _‘But I always sleep like this._ (This wasn’t exactly true, he would sleep by the fire sometimes, but only when he knew it was safe). _What if monsters come?’_

By some miracle Warriors understood him. “We literally just killed all those lizalfos,” he said flatly.

 _‘But what if MORE monsters come?_ ’

“That’s what the night watch is for.”

Alright, fine, Warriors had a point. Wild supposed he could pretend to sleep and then sneak back into the tree, where his nightmares could be hidden...that is, of course, as long as he doesn’t fall out.

He slipped back down the ground and propped himself against the tree, but Warriors _still_ wasn’t satisfied. Wild wanted to scream when the other hero began pestering him about bedrolls and being warm enough and other nonsense. When he finally got Warriors off his back, Wild had to admit he was feeling exhausted. When was the last time he slept? Maybe a night or two before meeting the others...that was what, four, five nights ago?

Despite this, Wild found himself fighting to stay awake for fear of what he knew awaited him. One of the few constants in his life after waking up in the Shrine of Resurrection was the nightmares. And after recovering that cursed memory outside of Fort Hateno, his dreams were always filled with death and failure and Malice and Guardians.

Of course, his resistance could only last so long, and the newly-dubbed Hero of the Wild fell into a fitful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, this is where things get cooking! A little Wild angst coming up, a little Wild antics too (cuz what would a gang-meets-wild-fic be without them?), and we finally (probably) start to see some Twi/Wild bonding. 
> 
> Thanks again!


	4. Just the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares, Ordon Village, and some adventurous boys realize that they've found the perfect exploring partners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, we've got another chapter! It's safe to assume that my updates will be a little slower because I feel guilty about neglecting all my other projects, but this next chapter is going to be fun to write, so...
> 
> I'm not entirely satisfied with how this turned out but here it is. Thank you all for reading--comments, kudos, and suggestions for the future are appreciated!

Twilight snapped awake, looking up to find a drowsy Warriors in his face. “Ugh,” Warriors said, flopping backwards. “I’m never volunteering for watch again…” he mumbled. 

Twilight sat up. “It’s alright, Wars,” he sighed. “I can take third watch.” 

Warriors mumbled something else Twilight didn’t catch before promptly falling asleep. He smirked and scrounged up a blanket to lay over the passed out hero. Twilight wasn’t sure who was actually supposed to be on third watch, but looking at the adorable heap Legend, Hyrule, Four, Sky, and Wind were in, Twilight didn’t have the heart to find out. He frowned when he realized they were missing a member. Time was asleep next to where Warriors was already snoring away. That left…

Twilight’s brows flicked up. Wild was curled up against a tree on the very edge of the camp, not even a blanket over him. He was wrapped up instead by his cloak, the hood hanging off Wild’s shoulders, leaving his face exposed to the night. Twilight frowned when he realized that something was wrong. Wild’s face was scrunched up and he kept twitching.

So he was a victim of the nightmares, too. It was a common occurrence with the group of heroes, because no one can go through journeys like theirs without a few scars, both mental and physical.

Twilight cautiously navigated the tangled limbs of the sleeping pile and crept over to Wild. He knew that the kid was skittish, so waking him up might not actually be the best idea…

Wild jerked harder, mouth forming words that morphed into soundless screams. Twilight couldn’t bear letting him just suffer, so he shook Wild’s shoulder without a second’s hesitation. 

Wild jumped awake faster than humanly possible, and Twilight didn’t even have time to register what was happening before he was looking down at the small knife stuck two inches into his arm. 

They both just stared at the knife, blinking in surprise. Then the pain kicked in and Twilight said, “Ow.” 

Wild’s eyes were wide and he started signing apologies over and over, so fast that Twilight couldn’t keep up. “Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he said. The other hero stopped and slumped against the tree. Wild mimed pulling the knife out and Twilight tried not to grimace as the memory of Wild ripping the arrow out filled his head. “I think we’ll just deal with it later,” he said. 

Then Wild let out a shuddering breath and Twilight remembered why he had gotten stabbed in the first place. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked softly. Wild shook his head, hands grabbing at his long golden locks in an agitated manner. 

“Okay...I’m right here. I know it's hard, but it gets better,” Twilight said. He hesitated on the thought of patting Wild on the back. 

He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it took him by surprise when Wild began to cry. The kid put his head between his knees and his shoulders began to shake with silent sobs. Goddess, no, he wasn’t good with this sort of thing. Wild obviously needed comfort, but how was he supposed to that when Twilight was too afraid to touch him?

They sat there for a moment until eventually Wild calmed himself. “Are you...sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Twilight prodded. He winced.  _ Real smooth, Twi,  _ he thought. 

Wild just shuddered and shook his head again. “...Do you want me to stay?” Twilight asked. Wild hesitated, but after a moment nodded. Twilight’s chest warmed. 

The silence they shared for the next hour was companionable. 

<><><>

The next day it was like the nightmare had never happened. Twilight woke up to see Wild already awake, or maybe he never went back to sleep, cooking breakfast. It smelled like heaven. 

Twilight sat up with a stretch and casually walked over to Wild, peering over his shoulder. “That smells good,” he commented. 

He rolled his shoulder, which was throbbing dully. Twilight had downed a red potion before going to bed, but the potions always came with the most annoying soreness after. Twilight glanced around to find his mentor missing and everyone else still asleep. Seeing the question in his eyes, Wild set down his knife—the same one that he used to stab Twilight—to sign.  _ ‘Time went on a walk, said he was going on patrol.’  _

Twilight hummed in acknowledgement. “My hometown is nearby. We can probably get there by nightfall,” he said. Excitement filled him at the thought of returning to Ordon. He’d get to introduce Ilia and everyone else. 

It wasn’t long before the rest of the heroes were roused by the smell of Wild’s cooking. Time returned from his walk once fluffy omelets piled high with fruit were being served. He saw his mentor’s eyes light up and he said, “Thank Hylia we were blessed with an actual cook.” 

Twilight snorted. “You can say that again. If I ever see Sky’s cooking again it will be too soon,” he joked with a nudge to the hero next to him. Sky gave him a glare that lacked any intensity and cracked a grin after a moment. “This is delicious, Wild,” the Chosen Hero said as he shoveled another bite in. “Where’d you learn how to cook?” 

Wild’s eyes widened when everyone’s gaze landed on him. He fiddled nervously with the edge of his hood. Twilight was proud of him for keeping it down and letting his face see the sun. He was glad the others were polite enough to keep from staring...well, everyone but Wind. 

_ ‘I had some people teach me,’  _ Wild signed.  _ ‘When you’re alone on the road cooking is a must.’  _

“Didn’t you have a companion?” Wind asked after Time translated. Wild frowned.  _ ‘Companion?’  _ he asked. 

Hyrule brightened. “You were alone for your journey, too?” Wild nodded hesitantly, still looking confused.  _ ‘You mean you guys had people with you?’  _

Wind nodded matter-of-factly. “Mine was a talking boat,” he boasted proudly. “Or, I guess, it was a spirit that possessed the boat or something…” He continued to babble on about his adventures across the sea as a pirate, and something flitted across Wild’s expression before it went carefully blank. 

After breakfast, Wind, Hyrule, and Wild wandered off somewhere. “Shouldn’t we be keeping an eye on them?” Sky asked. Legend waved him off with an unimpressed look. “They’ll be fine. Hyrule has  _ some  _ common sense, at least I think so,” he said. 

“I’m sure they can handle themselves for a few minutes,” Time agreed, which Twilight thought was more than questionable. He wasn’t sure how responsible Wild was, but he knew that Wind and Hyrule were more than prone to getting into trouble. 

“Now’s the perfect time to have a conversation about our newest member,” Legend said. 

“You saw him out on the battlefield, and how he pushed me out of the way to take that arrow. What else is there to say?” Twilight asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his tone. After seeing Wild last night, he felt oddly protective of the kid. 

“We don’t know anything about his journey other than he was alone and his Hyrule is in ruins,” Warriors spoke up. “Not to mention the scars,” Legend added. “Or how he’s so skittish, doesn’t speak, or that weird slate thing! I could go on.” 

“Are we just going to forget that he can speak to the Goddess, too?” Four added. “Because I think that needs to be addressed.” 

Time sighed. “We can ask later if need be. He’ll tell us on his own, though, I’m sure of it.” 

“Are we sure we can trust him until then?” Legend asked. Twilight groaned. “We’ve been over this,” he snapped. Legend was beginning to rub on Twi’s nerves. He felt guilty, though, when Legend blinked and scowled. Twilight gave a heavy sigh and dragged a hand over his face. 

“You didn’t see him last night,” he said quietly. “I was up, and he was having some nasty nightmares. I don’t...having us mistrust him is the last thing that kid needs.” 

“Anyways,” Twilight continued. “Ordon Village isn’t far. We could get there today if we left right now.” 

Time nodded. “Let’s pack up and gather the boys,” he said. “I think we’d all appreciate sleeping in an actual bed tonight.” 

Unfortunately, finding Hyrule, Wind, and Wild was easier said than done. They searched for nearly half an hour before they found the grinning boys heading back to camp. “What in Hylia’s name were you  _ doing?”  _ Twilight asked. They were covered in grass stains and leaves, sporting cuts and bruises. Wild was holding his wrist gingerly, Hyrule had a nasty black eye, and Wind was missing a boot, but they couldn’t look happier. 

“Wild taught us how to shield surf!” Wind said with a toothy grin. “Do I even want to know?” he asked tiredly. “Here, let’s get back to camp. We were supposed to be on the road a while ago.” 

On the way back to camp, Wind and Hyrule regaled him with a colorful account of their time shield surfing. As the story went on, Twilight became more and more concerned.  _ These three should not be left unsupervised,  _ he thought with finality. They were left alone for an  _ hour,  _ and the boys managed to break Wild’s wrist, which Hyrule said he healed, Wind almost tumbled off a cliff, and Hyrule nearly broke his nose crashing into a tree. 

“It was so fun!” Wind gushed. 

Then they got back to camp, and the boys launched back into the story for a second time.

<><><>

They arrived at Ordon Village around nightfall. It looked nothing like what Wild expected. He was even more surprised when Twilight led them to a small treehouse and claimed it to be his home. 

Legend choked. “You live here?” he asked. Twilight shrugged. “Yeah,” he said. 

“Wow, Rancher...I wasn’t expecting this,” Legend said when they piled into the small home. Twilight seemed, of all things, embarrassed. “Yes, well, there’s not enough room for all of us,” he said. “Most will have to sleep at the inn.” 

“That’s alright, Pup,” Time said with a pat on Twilight’s shoulder. “I think this house suits you perfectly.” Twilight smiled and ducked his head. Of all the heroes, Wild quickly caught on that Time and Twilight held a special relationship. He also found that there was a fair share of nicknames for everyone, on top of the nicknames they already had. Old Man, Pup, Pretty Boy, Rancher, and Salty, to name a few. 

They met Ilia next, a sweet girl that was close with Twilight. Wild began to get nervous as practically the whole village came to say hello. Twilight laughed as children dangled off his arms. Everyone seemed happy. Dinner was loud and chaotic around the fire. 

Wild needed to get away. 

Seeing Ordon Village, so vibrant and full of life, it made his heart hurt at the thought of what his own Hyrule had lost. He tried to focus on the fact that things were getting better, that Tarry Town, Hateno and Kakariko were still standing and prospering. 

The thought didn’t stop him from slipping into the surrounding forest. Wild took a shuddering breath and glanced back at the glow of the fire. 

“You had to get away, too?” 

He jumped, drawing his sword, only to find Hyrule. Somehow he had a way of sneaking up on Wild. 

He relaxed and nodded. Hyrule was quiet for a moment, and then said, “You wanna go explore?” 

<><><>

The merriment lasted for hours into the night, until Wind asked, “Hey, where’s Wild and Hyrule?” 

Hence, the manhunt. Legend was traipsing through the forest, irritated and tired and not at  _ all  _ where he wanted to be. 

This Wild was already proving to be a pain in the ass. He pulled himself over a fallen log and nearly ate dirt. Muttering curses, he pushed himself off the ground and scowled at the streak of dirt smeared across his jacket.

He leaned against a tree.  _ This is pointless,  _ he thought sourly. Legend turned to head back to Ordon when he heard a voice exclaim, “Whoa, is that a  _ bomb? _ ” 

That was Hyrule—wait.

Did he say bomb? 

Legend raced toward where he heard Hyrule’s voice, because if he knew  _ anything,  _ it was that those two should NOT be left alone with a Hylia-damned bomb. 

<><><>

Time waited anxiously for someone to return with Wild and Hyrule. Four and Warriors had already returned with no luck, and he was beginning to worry. Twilight had assured him that as long as they didn’t stray too far, these woods were safe, but his protégé seemed worried as well. 

“Pacing won’t do any good, you know,” Twilight said. Time sighed and sat down. “I know. I can’t help but worry, though.” 

“I don’t know how you do it, Old Man,” Twilight said with a smirk. “We’re quite the handful, aren’t we?” 

Time laughed. “You can say that again.” 

“I found them, the little moblins!” Legend’s harsh call came. Behind him were two sulking teenagers. 

Time was immensely relieved. And incredibly furious. Don’t they know how dangerous it is to just...wander off like that? 

He walked over as calmly as he could and asked coolly, “What in the world were you thinking?” 

“Exploring,” Hyrule said defensively as Wild shrank into his hood. “We weren’t gone  _ that  _ long.” 

Time exhaled. “You two should know better than to wander off. It is always better to stick together.” He was interrupted by Legend yawning. “Sorry. I think they get the point. Can we continue this lecture tomorrow?” 

Time relented. They were all pretty tired. “Alright. Sky already got us rooms at the inn. Let’s get some sleep.” He skewered the boys with one last disappointed glare, just for good measure. 

  
  


~Bonus~

As they watched Time give Hyrule and Wild another lecture about wandering off—the road to Castle Town was a long one and it was better to stick together, but  _ no,  _ those two just HAD to disappear for the third time—Warriors leaned over to Twilight and whispered, “You know, I feel like we’ve just scratched the surface to whatever hell these two are going to drag us through.” 

“Oh, no doubt about it,” Four said. “I heard them talking about riding flying trees.” 

Legend groaned. “I knew this was a bad idea.” 

Twilight gave him a flat look. “You need to understand that we don’t have a choice with who’s the hero and who isn’t.” 

But as he watched Wild and Hyrule meet up with Wind near the front of the group, he had a sinking feeling they were right. This was just the beginning. 

  
  



	5. From Castle Town to the Campfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We've got some bustling city and some forest fires, and a side of story telling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I will say it right here, this chapter is a little whack. I'm not going to even try to make it perfect, that will take way too much time, so take it as you will. I...think...this is the second to last chapter. That might change, but it's what I have planned. (Just note, my plans rarely stay the same...) I'll continue in my next work in the series, which I'm excited about because it will actually have angst and, finally, Wolfie. (yay!) 
> 
> Thanks for reading, you're all wonderful :)

Wild stared with wide eyes at Twilight’s Castle Town. He could barely process the grand, spiraling towers of the castle in the distance, the tall stone arches, the buildings crammed in next to each other. More than Wild had ever seen in one place. 

And the  _ people.  _ There were  _ so many.  _

“You coming?” 

The others were unfazed by the massive town before them. Wild pulled his feet free from the cobbled path underneath him and forced himself to keep walking forward. He tugged his hood further over his face and huddled close to Twilight. 

There were definitely too many people. 

Twilight cast him an amused glance. “Not much for city life?” he asked. Wild shook his head frantically. His skin crawled with the weight of phantom stares, pressing against him and he just—

_ Breathe,  _ he scolded. Wild took a deep breath, held for five seconds, and let it out slowly, forcing the tension to go with it. He knew he had always been like this, even Before. And Wild hated that he couldn’t stand being in a crowd. That wasn’t really a problem in his Hyrule quite yet, but now that he was traveling to other Hyrules…

Twilight led them to a tavern with a warm lady called Telma. Her cat wouldn’t stop rubbing against Twilight. 

“Have you heard word of any stronger-than-usual monsters?” Twilight asked once the introductions were over. Telma hummed as she prepared drinks for them. Wild declined his offered drink, though Wind looked like they denied him a birthday cake when Time forbade him from ordering anything alcoholic. “I heard some soldiers mentioning a large monster camp. The Queen already sent out troops. They never came back.” 

Twilight chewed his lip as he scratched behind the cat’s ear. “Does this mean we’re going to the castle?” Wind asked. “...I guess so,” Twilight said. 

They finished their drinks and left for the looming presence ahead. Wild watched as the spires of the castle grew larger and larger until he had to crane his neck upwards to see the tops. It took a moment to get through the entrance and throne room where the Queen was, but eventually Twilight got them through. 

“Everyone, meet Queen Zelda,” he said. 

Wild stumbled at the name Zelda, but he supposed it made sense. If they were all Links, then it was possible they could all have Zeldas. 

This Zelda was nothing like his. Her face was sharp, her eyes piercing and she exuded regal confidence. “Link,” she said with a slight curl of her lips. “We meet again.” 

“I, uh...yes, Your Majesty,” Twilight said. After a bit more of him fumbling to introduce the rest of the Links, Time took over. 

“Excuse my bluntness, but we heard about a monster camp—” 

“Let me guess...you want to take care of it?” Wild could hear the hopefulness in her tone. It must be a nuisance, if she’s willing to ask help from eight total strangers. “Yes,” Time said. “We’re all experienced fighters, and we’ve been traveling across Hyrule dealing with these black blooded monsters.” 

“If you’re traveling with Link, I’m sure you’re all exceptional,” Zelda said. “If you could excuse us, I need to talk to him.” 

She beckoned for Twilight to come forth and the rest of them backed away. “Hey, Time?” Twilight asked. “Is it okay if I fill her in on our little adventure?” Time nodded his affirmative. Wild watched from afar with the rest of the heroes as Zelda pulled Twilight off to the side. 

They didn’t talk very long, although he returned looking a little more at ease, while Zelda looked at each of them with surprised, wide eyes. 

The queen gave them a location on the map to travel to, and shortly after, they left. 

“Twi, what’s up with you and your Zelda?” Legend asked. “It was...kinda painful to watch,” Warriors agreed. 

Twilight shrugged. “We never really were close to begin with. It was someone else holding us together, a trio. But then that person left...and…” Twilight motioned helplessly with his hands. “It all fell apart.” 

<><><>

Legend felt bad about how he was treating Wild. The accusations seemed to fly past his lips before he knew what was happening. The kid was just so easy to get mad at, and that in itself was infuriating. 

Oh well. It wasn’t like Legend could just apologize; it was way too late for that. 

They were back on the road after a short break in Castle Town, heading for the monster camp. They wouldn’t make it until the next day and retired a little earlier than usual. Time decided he could be nice after all, it seemed, and agreed when Wind pleaded for a break. 

Legend saw a hand wave in the corner of his vision and turned to see Wild with a nervous expression. He glanced toward the others, a little ways off setting up camp. Wild was forced to fingerspell, since Legend knew barely any sign. 

_ ‘B-O-N-F-I-R-E.’  _

“Uh,” Legend said. “A...bonfire?” 

Wild nodded and grinned widely. Oh, no. He knew that look. 

Goddess, how could he resist those eyes? They were nearly as convincing as Wind’s. Legend supposed it could be one way of getting on Wild’s good side, and what could a little fire hurt? 

Legend sighed, hard and long. “Alright, but I’m coming with you to supervise.” Wild nodded and  _ skipped  _ away from him, heading for the copse of trees. 

He was already beginning to regret this. 

Legend hung back as Wild fiddled with his Sheikah Slate and pulled out a bow and red-tipped arrow. __

_...This can’t be good,  _ Legend thought. Before he could do anything, Wild fired the arrow  _ into  _ the tree and watched with glee on his face as the tree was immediately wreathed in flames. 

_ Dear Hylia, what the hell have I done?  _

He could only watch as the fire spread from tree to tree. 

“What the hell was that?!” Legend yelled, pulling Wild away from the intense heat of the flames in front of them. He quickly released the hero, however, when Wild thrashed in his grip. “You’re going to burn down Hyrule Field!” 

Wild pointed at the flames, looking confused.  _ ‘Bonfire,’  _ he insisted. Legend gave him his most deadpan face (which he was proud to say was pretty damn good) and tried to keep the rising panic from it. “I don’t know what shit goes on in your Hyrule, but _ that _ is called a forest fire.” 

“What in Hylia’s name!?” Twilight came screaming, running over to them. Great. 

“He told me it was just going to be a bonfire!” 

“It’s never  _ just  _ anything, with him!” 

“Oh, shut up,” Legend growled. “How do we put this out?” 

“...I have no idea.” 

<><><>

Hours later, the heroes were gathered around a normal sized fire (how boring, they never let Wild do anything fun, even in the short time they’ve been together) with full bellies. They didn’t quite feel like going to bed just yet, though. 

“Anyone have any fun stories to tell?” Wind asked from where he was curled up against Sky’s side. “Plenty,” Legend deadpanned. “Just none I want to share.” 

“Did I ever tell you about how Sun threw me off a giant statue to show me how to use my Sailcloth?” Sky said when no one else offered a story. “No,” Wind giggled. “Tell us!” 

_ Who’s Sun?  _ Wild thought as Sky told the story with a large grin on his face. Twilight somehow read his mind, because the hero leaned over to whisper, “Sun is Sky’s Zelda. We each gave them nicknames so things don’t get confusing. We’ll have to figure out a nickname for yours when we meet her.” 

Wild nodded slowly and watched as the rest of the other heroes eventually opened up one after another, sharing mostly lighthearted stories about their adventures. Even  _ Time  _ was convinced to share, and he told them of exploring his Hyrule with Epona (to which both Wild and Twilight perked up, each having their own Epona as well). 

Then everyone turned to Wild expectantly. He froze and wracked his brain for anything that wasn’t about life and death, anything he could share that was harmless information. He smiled as he thought about the Koroks and their seeds for Hestu. He could keep it short, and glanced at Twilight to count on translation. The hero nodded encouragingly, easing a little more of Wild’s nerves. 

_ ‘When I—’  _ He fumbled, barely catching his slip-up.  _ ‘Started my journey, I found a small creature called a Korok.’  _

Wind gasped delightedly. “You have Koroks too?” he asked. Wild nodded.  _ ‘He gave me a small seed, a Korok Seed, for someone named Hestu.’  _ He felt himself begin to ease, relaxing as he talked about the large and eccentric Korok.  _ ‘I found hundreds of them. Then I found Hestu, and when I gave him the seeds, he expanded my weapons inventory so I could hold more in my Slate. It helped a lot.’  _

“Hundreds?!” Wind exclaimed. Wild nodded.  _ ‘I had some time on my hands on the road, though I’m sure there’s more if I really look. Haven’t really had the chance to, though.’  _

And there he went, putting a somber tone into the story. Wild shrugged, trying to salvage the mood, and signed,  _ ‘Hestu likes to say funny things, and he taught me some dance moves too.’  _

“Care to show us some?” Warriors asked with a smirk. 

Wild shook his head and shrank back. He couldn’t possibly—

“Pleaaase?” Wind asked, giving him the dreaded puppy eyes. “I wanna see, and you can teach us too! Right, Wars?” 

“Hey, don’t get me involved,” Warriors protested, but Wild knew he wanted to learn as well. He sighed, pushed away the flutter in his stomach, and stood. 

_ ‘Alright, it goes like this.’ _

<><><>

Time was surprised when he found Wild awake before him. Usually he was the early riser of the group. 

He settled down next to the hero, who was staring out at the rolling hills. The ground underneath them was hard and cold, the blades of grass biting at Time’s ankles. “If I recall correctly, you took first watch,” Time said with a raise of his eyebrows. Wild continued looking forward, although Time caught the guilty wince. 

“Did you wake up Four for second watch?” 

No reply. 

“That’s what I thought.” 

Wild slumped.  _ ‘He was tired,’  _ he signed.  _ ‘Needed rest. Stayed up late helping Warriors with his armor.’  _

“And you don’t need rest?” 

Wild gave a very unconvincing shake of his head.  _ ‘I’ve slept my share already.’  _

Well, that made absolutely no sense. Time sighed. “I hope you’ve got enough energy for taking out that monster camp. From what Twilight told us, it’s not going to be easy.”  Wild’s eyes hardened and he nodded. Time stood, joints groaning, and tossed over his shoulder, “Nice dancing last night.” 

He smirked at the bright red tips of Wild’s ears and went to wake the others. There were monsters that needed killing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ho boy, we might actually have angst this next chapter! :3


	6. Grace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild child gets hurt and then hurt some more :'(
> 
> Plus Zelda POV.
> 
> These summaries completely sound like they were written by a crazy person lol but SPOILERS I'm really bad at giving those so yeah..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you know how I said this would be the last chapter? 
> 
> ...Turns out I lied....sorta forgot about a whole section I wanted to write lol. There'll probably be two(?) more chapters after this. Then we get to move on to work #2: Secrets! Yay 
> 
> I had to change my tags because of this chapter--the places inspiration takes you. 
> 
> Oh and full disclaimer I've only ever played BoTW so...sorry for any artistic liberties I took with Twilight's world.

Wild winced at the pain radiating from his side. He was glad his Sheikah Armor was dark, hiding the hot, wet blood trickling down his side. Gently he felt the back of his head, which had smashed into the tree rather hard. Wild’s hand came away red. He focused on breathing shallow and forced himself to his feet. He  _ had _ to, because Hyrule was fighting those weird creatures (Twilight had called them bulblins) on his own. 

The monster that slammed into him, a bullbos, circled back for another round. The bulblin riding it screeched, whirling its club above its head. Wild steadied himself and waited until the last possible moment to flip into the air. 

The ground blurred beneath him and his torso screamed in protest, but Wild ignored that and took out the bulblin. The bullbos kept charging forward and crashed into a tree. Not the brightest creature, then. 

He landed unevenly on the ground, and he bit back a groan as pain spiked from his ankle.  _ Ignore it, ignore it,  _ he told himself, and went to aid Hyrule. Wild let himself fall into the rhythm of fighting, and for a while he could forget the pain. 

Until, that is, there were no more monsters to fight. 

It slammed into him with terrible force, and he had to resist the urge to collapse right then and there. Wild scanned over everyone for injuries. His stomach dropped at how many there were, and some were serious. Four had a broken arm, Sky had a nasty gash on his leg, Legend a stab wound in his shoulder, and Wind...Wind was spewing curses for an unknown reason. 

It was all his fault. If he hadn’t messed up scouting the area, they would have had more time to prepare instead of being thrown suddenly into battle. 

Wild felt his torso and squeezed his lips shut to keep from crying out. Several broken ribs, and one of the bullbos’ horns had stabbed him, though he was pretty sure it had missed anything particularly important. He selected his cloak from the Sheikah Slate and let it fall around him, hiding his injury from view. 

Potions and fairies were administered. Then Hyrule looked in their empty bag and said glumly, “We’ve only got one red potion left, guys.” 

“Give it to Four, that fairy didn’t heal everything,” Warriors said. “Unless anyone else has anything more serious?” 

Wild shook his head when Warriors glanced at him and hoped he didn’t look too pale. Four needed it more than him; that broken arm looked like it hurt. Wild didn’t want to be a burden by taking up needed supplies. Besides, Wild could make a hearty elixir later, and while it wouldn’t exactly heal it  _ would _ strengthen him. Bandages could always be stolen from one of the other’s bags. He would be fine. 

The walk back to camp was more difficult than Wild expected. Every step was agony. 

It was fine. He could live with it.

Wild made creamy heart soup for dinner and felt a little better after eating it. The other heroes complimented his cooking, and they gathered around the fire with content. It had been a long day, and everyone was too tired to stay up much longer. When things finally quieted down, however, Wind brought up an interesting question. 

“Do you guys ever think about your fight with Ganon?” 

Wild blinked. 

It was crazy to think that it had only been five weeks since his battle with Calamity Ganon. It felt like forever ago, but it also felt like it had never happened and this was all one wild dream, and he still had to save Hyrule. 

Well, it seemed he  _ was  _ still saving Hyrule, with eight other heroes. 

But what made bile rise in his throat was the fact that  _ Wind,  _ the fourteen year old boy, had defeated Ganon, while Wild failed and let his kingdom fall to ruin. He curled his hands into fists and willed them to stop shaking. 

“Why do you ask?” Legend asked warily. 

“Well, I…” Wind’s hands twitched. “Sometimes I have nightmares about when I killed Ganon. Do you know how I killed him? I stabbed him in the head.” Wind mimed stabbing down with a sword. The fire popped loudly, belching out embers with a shower of orange sparks. Wild tried not to flinch. 

“Sometimes I feel the sword is back in my hands, and I can practically  _ see  _ the blood and…” Wind shuddered. 

Wild shoved away the phantom terror from when he rushed through the castle, desperate to get to the princess.  _ Why  _ were his hands shaking so much? He had defeated the Calamity; it was over now. Zelda was fine and Hyrule was finally able to flourish. 

Wild struggled to keep up with the solemn conversation. The effects of the hearty soup were already fading, and his thoughts grew panicked as it grew harder and harder to breathe. The world blurred at the edges. 

He needed to make a hearty elixir, but he couldn’t exactly do that in front of everyone. Wild would just wait until they were all asleep…

“—in the past,” Time was saying. The older hero’s eyes held deep shadows as they stared into the sputtering fire. 

They finally settled in for bed. To his dismay, the others turned down his volunteer for first watch. “You took it last time,” Twilight said. “Let me do it tonight.” 

It would only be suspicious if he resisted, so Wild hesitantly agreed and decided to just curl up where he lay. His torso  _ hurt,  _ a lot, and his ankle felt stiff and swollen. He was glad that—at least—the pain kept him from getting drowsy. He waited for everyone’s breathing to even out. He was relieved when Twilight eventually snuck off, making it all the easier to get to the cooking pot. 

Or so he thought. 

When he pushed himself quietly to his feet, Wild couldn’t stop his small gasp at the pain. The world swirled into abstract colors and shapes when he stumbled forward to the pot. Wild narrowly missed tripping over Warriors and crashed to his knees on the hard ground. His breathing came out in sharp bursts and he pulled himself closer to the pot. 

He pulled out his Slate and cursed. 

He didn’t have the ingredients for a hearty elixir. 

<><><>

The night was peaceful after a day of battle. Twilight relished the feel of the grass underneath him and the cool breeze trailing gentle fingers over him. He didn’t intend to be too long from the camp, just going for a short patrol to gather his thoughts. 

The conversation over the fire with Wind and the others brought Twilight’s head back to reality. 

All of them, these newfound brothers Twilight didn’t know he needed until he had them, had faced terrible things. Just hearing Wind’s confession made his heart hurt. The kid was too young to deal with this sort of thing. Goddess,  _ Twilight  _ felt like he was too young when he saved Hyrule. Before the Twilight Realm, he had just been a simple ranch hand. Sometimes he wished it had stayed that way. 

The snap of a twig and a  _ thump  _ caught Twilight’s attention. He stilled, waiting for the scent of monsters to float his way. Instead he caught...Wild’s? What was he doing out here? 

Twilight headed for the direction of the sound. Whatever that kid was up to was definitely not good. He was just going over the lecture he was about to give when he realized an important fact. He was sort of a wolf at the moment. 

It was a good thing he realized that then, because he chanced upon Wild barely a moment after he had shifted back. 

What he didn’t expect, however, was to see the hero collapsed at the foot of a tree. Twilight hurried over, the pungent tang of blood filling his nose. 

The kid was pale, too pale. When Twilight pulled back Wild’s cloak, the fabric sodden with blood, a pit opened up in his stomach. 

Wild’s torso was a horrific mess. Blood slowly oozed out of a stab wound and his ribs were battered with blue and purple bruises. Why didn’t he say anything? How come he just suffered for hours without a single word? 

Twilight dragged his hand over his face and let out a frustrated yell. They were nearly half a mile from camp, and Wild needed immediate medical attention. “Sorry,” Twilight muttered before scooping up the unconscious hero. 

The gasp that escaped Wild made him grimace and whisper more apologies. Twilight was concerned at how light the kid was—as light as Wind, maybe even lighter. At least it made it easier to carry him back to camp. 

Twilight shouted to wake up the others and gently laid down Wild. The kid whimpered and grasped Twilight’s wrist, squeezing painfully. His fingers were ice cold and shaking. 

“Wha...what?” Four asked, sitting up and blinking the sleep from his eyes. 

“I found this idiot collapsed in the woods. He’s injured, badly,” Twilight said. That woke Four up and he went to get Hyrule. Twilight carefully pried his hands from Wild’s and shrugged off the wolf pelt on his shoulders. He placed it on the younger’s own shoulders and brushed the sweaty bangs from Wild’s forehead. Why was he so damn pale? 

Hyrule was still rubbing his eyes as he knelt down next to them. Twilight only felt worse as Hyrule’s expression went from concerned to terrified after he saw Wild’s injuries. “Can you heal it?” Twilight demanded. He winced at how harsh he sounded. 

“I…” Hyrule swallowed. “I depleted most of my magic in the battle today, but I’ll do what I can. The problem is, if it’s infected, I won’t be able to heal that. The sickness will have to run its course.” 

_ That’s not good.  _

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Hyrule added hastily. It wasn’t very assuring. 

A hand came down on Twilight’s shoulders and he jumped. He looked up to see his mentor, gazing down at him with understanding eyes. “Why don’t we talk?” Time asked, and pulled Twilight away before he could respond. 

Twilight glanced back at the others. They were gathered around Wild anxiously, and he had to force himself to look away. Why didn’t the kid say something? 

“You couldn’t have done anything to prevent this,” Time said. Twilight refused to meet the older’s gaze. One thing you could count on was Time cutting straight to the chase. Blunt, direct, no-nonsense Time. Sometimes it was a blessing and sometimes it was a curse. 

“Yes, I could. I could have—” 

“You could have what?” Time asked softly. “Tell me one thing you could have done to prevent this.” 

“I could have actually paid attention to him. I would have noticed something was wrong.” 

“There’s no way to prove that’s true.” 

Twilight pursed his lips. “I just don’t understand. Why didn’t he just say something? Does he not trust us, or what?” 

Time didn’t answer. 

<><><>

Wild blinked awake to find Twilight right in his face. He squinted, trying to fight through the fog in his head. He couldn’t remember why—oh, right. Wild braced himself for the lecture, but it never came. Instead Twilight let out a breath and leaned back. “Thank Hylia,” he murmured. 

Wild slowly became aware of the rest of his body. He was trapped underneath several blankets, which made him panic, but he found he barely had the energy to move his arms. And he felt absolutely awful, like he had about four too many noble pursuits and then got trampled by a lynel. His head throbbed and he couldn’t get the world to focus. 

“He’s awake,” Wild heard Twilight say. Then there were about eight too many people in his face. 

“Guys, give him space,” Sky said, and Wild relaxed some when he had room to breathe. “How are you feeling?” Hyrule asked. He closed his eyes and let out a moan.

This troubled the others. Hyrule flurried about, muttering about fairies and potions. Wild struggled, trying to throw the blankets off. They were too heavy, too hot, and he needed his hands visible to sign. Thankfully Twilight noticed and helped lift the blankets off his arms. 

_ ‘Sit...up,’  _ Wild signed, struggling to move his hands in the correct motions. They felt so heavy…

“Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea right now,” Hyrule said. “I managed to heal your ribs, but they’re still delicate. I don’t want to risk breaking them again with unnecessary movement.” 

Wild shook his head. He hated just staring up at the sky, he hated lying down like this, because if he closed his eyes he could just  _ see  _ the sloped dome of the Shrine of Resurrection.  _ ‘Please. I can’t...’  _ he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. 

Hyrule, somehow, understood. “I...alright,” he relented. “I have to check your torso anyways.” 

Then Twilight was back, lifting him gently and propping him against a tree. That was when Wild realized he was wearing Twilight’s pelt. He wondered vaguely why the other hero would give it to him, but the thought was wiped away by the pain. He bit the inside of his cheek and forced himself to breathe steadily. Twilight whispered apologies in his ear and Wild shook his head. He wanted to say that it wasn’t his fault, but Twilight pulled away before he could sign anything. 

He finally had a proper view of the camp. Warriors and Time were polishing their armor, Legend was sitting silently next to Sky, and Wild realized with horror that Four and Wind were hunched over the cooking pot. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping an eye on them,” Twilight chuckled. “They’re doing surprisingly well, all things considered. Last night’s dinner was nowhere near your cooking, but at least it was edible.” Wild’s eyes widened.

“You’ve been out for two days,” Twilight said. 

Wild closed his eyes. This was not good. 

Hyrule interrupted his train of thought by lifting his tunic. Wild peered down to see the faint remnants of bruises and an ugly mark nestled within his scars. Hyrule sighed, a hint of worry in his voice. “It’s infected, despite how much I healed it.” 

“Is there anything you can do?” Twilight asked. Hyrule looked down. “My magic only works on superficial injuries. Anything like sickness or poison…” He shrugged helplessly. “I’m afraid he’ll have to fight the infection on his own unless we have a red potion or fairy. Which we don’t.” 

Wild felt his stomach sink with every word Hyrule said. He was sick, they had no way of speeding along his recovery, and so essentially they were stuck until he could get better.  _ So much for not being a burden,  _ he thought sullenly. All he did was make things worse, like usual. 

Wild looked at Twilight.  _ ‘No lecture?’  _ he asked. Twilight let out a breathy laugh. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m furious,” he said. “But I’m more relieved you’re alive.” 

That made Wild blink. Twilight…Twilight actually cared about him. The thought brought the smallest of smiles to his lips. There were very few people who actually cared for him in his Hyrule. 

“Might I ask, what  _ were  _ you doing so far from camp?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. Wild gave a tiny shrug.  _ ‘Needed supplies.’  _

“...right,” Twilight said. They fell into silence.

Twilight let out a small gasp next to him. Wild turned his head in concern. “I…” Twilight gaped at something in the field. “That can’t be. How—what are they doing here?” Wild followed his gaze to see armored figures stomping across the hills. “Darknuts,” Twilight breathed. 

What in Hylia’s name were those? 

“Are those darknuts?!” Legend exclaimed from the other side of camp. Wind shot up, looking around wildly. “Where’s my sword?” he shouted. “I wanna go kill them the mother—” 

“Language,” Sky interrupted. 

“I’m a pirate, I can say what I want!” 

Everyone scrambled for weapons. Wild sorely felt how useless he was.

“Why are there so many?” Twilight asked, but no one had an answer. “And they shouldn’t be out here! What’s going on?” 

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Legend said dryly. “We outnumber them, eight to six,” Four pointed out. Wild didn’t miss how he was excluded from the count. 

“I don’t know about your darknuts, but mine are really good with a sword. They put up a hell of a fight,” Twilight said. “And if they’re infected…” 

Everyone but Wild braced themselves for the battle, standing in a loose protective stance in front of him. Wild’s hands tightened around the blankets at his waist. He just felt so  _ useless.  _ Wild pulled out his Slate and frowned when he discovered that Magnesis wouldn’t work on the darknuts’ armor.  _ I’m a sitting duck,  _ he thought bitterly.

The darknuts charged as one toward the camp, raising their massive swords with hollow bellows and heavy  _ clangs  _ from their armor. The other heroes met them with equal ferocity. Metal shrieked as plates from the darknuts’ armor  _ flew  _ off with the blows landed. Wild ducked, barely in time to miss his head being sawed off. The metal embedded itself in the tree behind him. 

He could only watch helplessly as the others fought. Hyrule and Sky were pinned between two darknuts, but Hyrule somehow shot fire from his sword, driving them back. 

It turned out, despite their bickering, Legend and Warriors made a good team in a fight. They quickly removed the armor of their second darknut; what caught Wild off guard was that the darknut  _ threw  _ its sword at them. Legend dived out of the way, but the sword was still flying through the air. 

Straight towards Twilight. 

Wild didn’t know how he found the strength to jump to his feet and run. Maybe it was just pure adrenaline and desperation. All he knew was that he had to get to Twilight before it was too late. 

The issue with being injured is that you’re a lot slower than usual. So when Wild shoved Twilight out of the way, there was no way he himself could dodge. Wild knew this, and did it anyways. 

The sword violently slammed into him, knocking Wild to the ground. He gasped for air. Goddess, it hurt. Hot blood dripped between his fingers and he didn’t dare look down, because he could feel with excruciating exactness just how bad it was. 

Wild wouldn’t be surviving this. 

The fact crashed down on him and suddenly he was terrified. No Mipha’s Grace, no Shrine of Resurrection—though he would rather die than be put there again—no fairy or potion to stave the end. 

Wild had run out of ways to cheat death. 

He blearily looked to see Warriors stab the darknut clean through. Good...that meant only two were left…

An anguished scream tore through the air. Twilight, scrambling to his feet and crashing to his knees next to Wild. “No, no  _ no _ ,” Twilight moaned. Wild weakly reached for him. His thoughts were so disjointed and black was encroaching on the edges of his vision. Twilight grabbed his hand and screamed for Hyrule to come heal Wild. 

Wild squeezed Twilight’s hand.  _ It’s okay,  _ he mouthed.  _ I’m ready.  _

He wasn’t ready. Wild regretted leaving Zelda to face the world on her own; he regretted that he wouldn’t even die in his own beloved wilds. But seeing Twilight—who had cared for Wild, comforted him, made him  _ smile _ —alive and uninjured made it all worth it. Besides, Wild always knew he was on borrowed time. His death was supposed to have come over a hundred years ago. 

“You’re not going to die,” Twilight whispered. “We can still save you, you’ll see. Just...just hold on, alright? Don’t you dare leave me.” 

Wild could feel the blood pooling in the back of his throat. He coughed, pain ripping through him at the motion.

Hyrule stumbled over to them. His face was pale as he stared down at Wild. He knelt down next to them, a soft light gathering at his hands. “I…” Hyrule trembled. “I don’t have much magic left…” 

Wild could feel the world slipping from his consciousness. The black swept in abruptly, and Wild let it take him without resistance. 

<><><>

Twilight could only stare as Wild closed his eyes and went limp. 

“No,” he whispered. 

How could Wild be dead? How? His mind refused to understand. He barely noticed as the others gathered around Wild and wept. 

...how was Wild dead? 

<><><>

The darkness around him was softer than he expected it to be. It welcomed him with open arms, soothed his frayed edges, comforted him. It washed away the memory of pain and suffering and he found himself, finally...at peace. 

Then a teal flame lit up in the darkness. It danced as more flames joined it, and then she was there. Her beautiful, gentle, sad face filled his vision. 

“Mipha,” he breathed. In this darkness, he could talk. 

“Link,” she said in her sweet voice. She held out her hand, and slowly he took it. 

“You’re supposed to have moved on,” he said, confused. Why was she here? 

“I once promised that if anyone ever tried to do you harm, I would heal you,” Mipha said softly. Her lips turned up in a small smile. “No matter when, or how bad the wound...” 

His eyes filled with tears. What did he ever do to deserve such a selfless, kind person? She had stayed with him even after the Calamity’s defeat, even after everyone else had left. 

She was always there, and he could not be more grateful. 

Mipha gently held his hand and led him back to the light. “It was my pleasure,” she whispered, before fading away. 

<><><>

The tears just began to slip down Twilight’s face when teal light exploded around Wild. They scrambled back, confused and scared. Were those—were those bubbles swirling around Wild? 

A Zora woman, adorned with jewelry and wreathed in teal flames, planted a delicate kiss on Wild’s forehead. “It was my pleasure,” she said in a voice so gentle and kind Twilight felt himself calm, despite the circumstances. 

He watched in amazement as Wild’s wounds healed and a healthy color returned to his face. Then the Zora faded away, and they were left in silence. 

Twilight cautiously crept over to Wild. Was he alive? The hope in him was a mere glimmer. He didn’t know how anyone could survive something like that. 

Wild drew in a shuddering breath as he opened his eyes. He sat up, blinking as if tired, and looked at everyone’s pale and tear stained faces. He slumped.

_ ‘Her name is Mipha,’  _ he began. 

~Bonus~ 

“You’re saying you haven’t seen him, either?” Zelda asked. Sidon shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. I wish you luck finding him. It worries me that he would have just disappeared like that…” 

Zelda looked down solemnly and gathered her composure. “Yes, well, I’m sure he will return when we need him,” she said, attempting to lighten the mood. “How have your efforts with controlling the lizalfos been going?” 

“Well enough,” Sidon said. “We’ve managed to make the path to Zora’s Domain safe for traveling again. Perhaps I can convince my father to start trade with the outside world.” 

They continued to discuss trivial matters until Zelda had to excuse herself. She walked stiffly past Mipha’s statue and leaned against the railing of the Great Zora Bridge. She took a deep breath and tried to ease the worry that filled her. 

_ Oh, Link, where are you?  _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooo...I took freaking all day to write the last three pages lol. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, kudos & comments appreciated~


	7. Lon Lon Ranch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonding at Lon Lon Ranch :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, another chapter! As much as I adore Lon Lon Ranch, this chapter fought me a little. I'm not entirely satisfied with the end result, but it's (hopefully) not that terrible. 
> 
> Should I do one more chapter before moving on to work number two? I'm not sure. We'll see, I'd kinda like a better ending than what I have.

Wild blinked at the sign in front of him,  _ Lon Lon Ranch,  _ it read. His mind flashed back to rotting wood and the ruins of a ranch. This couldn’t possibly be the same place, though...could it? 

His thoughts were scattered by an unfamiliar, but overjoyed, voice calling his name. 

“Link!” 

He jolted, but quickly realized he wasn’t the Link being called. Time rushed over to a beaming redhead and swept her up into a sweet kiss. Wild blinked as Warriors whooped suggestively. Twilight and Sky were grinning. 

“Hello, boys,” said the redhead. Her attention landed on Wild, and he ducked further under the shadow of his hood. 

“Oh, another member?” she asked. “Yes,” Time said. “Wild, meet my wife, Malon. Malon, meet Wild. You two will get along well—Wild is quite the cook.” 

Wild barely registered the words spoken after ‘wife.’ He hadn’t even _entertained_ the idea of living a normal life after everything. It had always been: _save Hyrule, free the Divine Beasts, find memories,_ and it didn’t matter whether or not he wanted to. The people of Hyrule were depending on him, after all. Wild stared with wide eyes at the happy couple. 

Malon smiled warmly. “Wonderful. I’ll finally have some help in the kitchen cooking for such a large group,” she said. “In fact, it’s probably a good idea to start cooking now. The sun is already setting. Come, and you can tell me a little more about yourself.” 

Wild found himself being swept away by the boisterous woman without a second thought. He glanced back, a little panicked, at the others, but they just grinned.  _ What help they are,  _ he thought. But as Malon began to talk about food, he realized that he would enjoy cooking with her. He rarely ever got to share his passion for cooking with anyone else. 

“Here, hang your cloak over there—we don’t want to get flour all over it, do we?” Malon said as she gestured to a hook on a wall. Wild hesitated for a long moment before slowly shrugging off the hood. He felt Malon grow still next to him and he was filled with shame. He hated his scars,  _ hated them,  _ so much. They were living reminders of all his failures branded into his skin. 

It was only what he deserved. 

Wild didn’t expect Malon to gather him in her arms and  _ hug  _ him. He stiffened and resisted the urge to yank himself out of the embrace. He hadn’t willingly let anyone touch him except Zelda, and barely let anyone get close to him. But something about Malon was so heartwarming and comforting, Wild couldn’t bring himself to pull away. 

“I do not know what horrors you faced,” Malon whispered into his ear. “I dread to think you’ve had to go through anything like my husband—but know this. It may seem dark, you may have made mistakes, but I  _ promise  _ you this. There’s always someone there for you, who cares and forgives you, who  _ understands.  _ Now, I may not know you yet, but you will always be safe and welcomed here at Lon Lon Ranch.” 

Malon pulled away and patted him on the shoulder. Wild had to blink back tears. 

“Now, let’s get cooking.” 

<><><>

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Twilight asked, rubbing his hands together. He was glad to be back on a ranch, Lon Lon Ranch especially—the place just  _ felt  _ like a warm hug. Time chuckled and eyed the group of boys. “...There are a few things you could do,” he said slyly. 

‘A few things’ turn out to be _ hours  _ of work. Twilight was more than happy to do it, though several weren’t as...enthusiastic as he was. Legend wouldn’t stop grumbling and Wars  _ refused  _ to set foot in the barn. Wind jumped at the tasks readily, but his little body wasn’t prepared for such strenuous work. Sky was infatuated with the cuccos. Hyrule got stuck in the rafters of the barn—how  _ that _ happened was beyond Twilight—and it took forever to get him down. 

To say the least...they didn’t get much done. It was a relief when Malon came to announce dinner was ready. 

Twilight stepped inside to the mouth-watering aroma of food. They all crowded in on the table, squashed next to each other in the tight space. When he dug in, it was just as delicious as he expected, if not more so. They complimented Malon and Wild on the amazing meal, and Twilight caught Wild smiling into his plate. Good. The kid had seemed anxious and worried and  _ very  _ tense since he explained Mipha’s Grace. It was understandable, though—they hadn’t given Wild a lecture about it yet, and despite their best efforts they couldn’t act the same around Wild, Twilight especially. Wild had  _ died in his arms,  _ and that image would be burned in his mind forever. 

He had to talk about Time about this. They really did need to talk to Wild about what happened...Twilight had half a mind to think the Old Man was a little scared to, but that was almost laughable to think. 

Malon and Wild disappeared into the kitchen a second time, and emerged with fruitcake. “Who wants dessert?” Malon asked with a grin. 

<><><>

Later, Time, Twilight, and Malon were enjoying the comforts of the porch as the other boys messed with the cuccos. Time watched silently as Sky tried in vain to catch one of the squawking birds. Wild went to help and streaked across the grass, scooping up the cucco by the ankles and holding it high above his head, even as the bird showered feathers with its thrashing. Time could see the large, triumphant grin on Wild’s face as he handed the bird to Sky, hair now full of feathers. The sight of the others having some true free time, time to just have fun, made his chest warm. They didn’t have moments like this often enough. 

Twilight broke the silence on the porch by clearing his throat. “So, uh, are we ever going to talk to Wild about the dying thing?” his protégé asked. Time sank into his chair as Malon turned concerned eyes in their direction. “The  _ what _ ?” she asked. 

“Wild...well, he died a couple days ago but came back to life with something he called Mipha’s Grace. It was a gift from a friend of his. We...haven’t gotten to talking about it yet,” Time said with a sigh. To be honest, he was a little afraid to broach the subject with the hero. Dying was a very serious thing, but Wild had played it off so nonchalantly. It brought up the terrifying question:

Just how many times had Wild used this gift? 

TIme wasn’t sure he wanted to know. 

Malon blinked. “Well, that’s up there on the craziest-things-you’ve-said list,” she said. “But not  _ the  _ craziest thing you’ve ever said.” 

Time smiled. “Oh? And what would that be?” he asked. Malon hummed thoughtfully. “It’s a secret for another time, Fairy Boy,” she teased. Time raised his eyebrows. “If you say so.” 

Time returned his attention to the other heroes just as disaster fell. Wild tripped backwards onto a cucco, and the others shouted and shrieked as an army of furious birds descended upon Wild. It was almost hilarious to watch the boy run for his life with a roiling mass of feathers and sharp beaks following behind. 

Twilight groaned. “Can’t have  _ one moment  _ of peace,” Time heard his protégé mutter before he ran out to help Wild. 

He and his wife watched for a while, until Malon spoke softly. “You really should talk to Wild about it.” 

“I know,” Time replied, equally quiet. “Just...gathering the courage, I suppose.” 

“Says the wielder of the Triforce of Courage.” 

Time chuckled. Sometimes Malon knew him  _ too  _ well. She knew exactly when he was avoiding something and wasn’t afraid to call him out for it. 

“I’ll talk to him tonight,” Time decided. “...If he survives the cuccos, that is—okay, yes, I think I need to intervene here, Legend looks like he’s going to sic the birds on—” 

He broke off to start hollering at the boys as he ran across the field. Even so, he could still hear Malon’s sweet chuckle, like chiming bells. 

<><><>

An hour later, the rambunctious heroes were settled down around the fireplace, sharing stories over hot cups of sweetened milk. Fireside stories were beginning to turn into a nightly ritual, Wild noted as Warriors waved about, boasting outrageous stories of wooing women. He suspected Warriors had slipped something a little stronger than honey into his milk. 

But as the minutes ticked by, it got harder and harder to focus on the merriment around him. It became apparent that Wild was an outsider in this situation, the odd one out. Whatever special, precious feeling that he’d gotten out on the field with the others (...he would not mention the cuccos incident. Those birds were even more vicious than in Kakariko) was gone. He was the farthest from everyone and he couldn’t contribute to the conversation. The most he could do was smile as everyone around him laughed at a joke or bantered playfully. He could see their group dynamic, and he quickly realized he wasn’t part of it.  _ He was the outsider, the odd one out, useless, unneeded _ —And suddenly, the cozy feel of the room was replaced with claustrophobia. There were  _ too many people in the room _ —

Wild had to get out. 

So he set aside his mug of milk, which was mostly gone anyways, and quietly crept out towards the front door. 

“Wild.” 

He froze, shoulders scrunched up to his ears as he turned to see Time’s face. It had lost the jovial contentment that was on there just moments before. Now it was replaced with a cold and unreadable expression. 

“Come here.” Time’s voice lacked some of the edge it usually had, but it was still hard and authoritative. Wild slowly walked back over. 

“Where were you going?” Time asked. WIld itched to have his cloak. Now was a really good time to pull up the hood. He tried desperately to keep his expression blank as he signed simply,  _ ‘Outside.’  _

The older hero narrowed his eyes. Wild stood there, terrified, as he waited for Time to say something. Eventually he heaved a sigh and patted the small space on the couch next to him. “I think it’s time we talk about something,” Time said. 

Wild didn’t sit next to Time and instead perched on the arm of the couch. He expected another lecture about staying with the group and being part of a team...instead he got one about death. 

He really, really wanted his cloak right about now. 

To make it worse,  _ everyone was staring.  _ They were all crowded in there as Time told him just how serious dying was and that it wasn’t cheated without a price, and so on. Wild could only stare. He wasn’t all that afraid of dying anymore, after all, he’d died dozens of times by now. Although, he supposed that being saved from Mipha’s Grace didn’t quite count as dying. She saved him before he  _ really  _ died, but the Shrine of Resurrection…

A body doesn’t take a hundred years to simply heal. 

Wild forced himself to focus on Time’s words, but they floated around in his head as a jumbled mess and refused to make actual sentences.  _ Important...care...understand...behavior… _

He got the gist of it, at least. 

Then Legend cut in. “Just curious, how many times have you used that Grace thingy?” 

Wild swallowed. He was pretty sure no one would want to hear the answer, so he tried to be as vague as possible.  _ ‘...A few times.’  _ That was probably better than ‘I’ve lost count’ or ‘over fifty.’

“Uh-huh.” Legend seemed to have noticed his lie.  _ Goddess, please, just let him drop the subject.  _

Mercifully, Legend did. The weight of their gazes remained, however, so Wild simply backed up and left. He was surprised no one stopped him. 

The cool night air was nice, but Wild quickly noticed how the night here had a distinctly...uncomfortable feel to it. It made goosebumps rise on the skin exposed to the shine of the moon.

Wild decided he could get in some practice with a blade in. He had nothing better to do after all. He frowned when he realized just how many of his weapons were damaged. Sure, he could use them in battle, but did he  _ really  _ need six damaged broadswords? 

He decided he would use one of the broadswords for training, and if that broke he would switch to a heavier, two-handed weapon. Those, he always struggled with the most. 

He hadn’t realized anyone had followed him outside until he heard the horrified gasp behind him when the broadsword shattered in his hands. He was lucky his hands didn’t get cut this time—they were scratched enough from those demon birds. 

Wild turned to see Four, eyes wide with horror at the hilt in his hands, now missing a blade. “...How?” Four whispered. Wild just shrugged, a little confused. This was normal. Why was the small hero so upset? 

Four shook himself out of his horror enough to march over to Wild. He held out his hand impatiently and Wild passed the hilt over with little hesitation. He didn’t want to face the wrath hiding beneath that level headed exterior. 

“This is so strange,” Four murmured, mostly to himself. “How did you manage to do this?” 

Wild shrugged again. 

“I’ve rarely heard of someone’s blade breaking on them. Seriously, how is this possible? Have you been doing the proper maintenance?” 

Four froze when he saw Wild’s confused expression. “Oh, Hylia no,” Four breathed. “You don’t know how to maintain your weapons?”

Shame flooded through him, and Wild gave a tiny shake of his head. “I will  _ not  _ stand for this,” Four said, and began to march back to the house. “Follow me!” the smithy tossed over his shoulder. Wild reluctantly trailed behind him. “Guys!” Four shouted as he shoved open the door. “We have a  _ crisis! _ ” 

Wild had never seen Four like this before. Normally the hero was reserved, chipping in with witty remarks and smart suggestions. This...this was something new. 

“What is it?” Twilight asked. “ _ Wild _ —” Four pointed at him from where he lingered in the doorway “—doesn’t know how to maintain his weapons. He literally  _ broke  _ one before my eyes a minute ago.” 

This caused an uproar, and Wild barely restrained his flinch as the heroes gathered around him, asking countless questions. Four led him to a more quiet area of the house and grabbed his bag along the way. He unloaded several items on the table, the others following behind with shared amused glances. 

“Alright, Wild,” Four said, sitting down and picking up a cloth. His expression was split between excited, determined, and focused. “It goes like this.” 

<><><>

Wild was so overwhelmed by everything the heroes taught him. He had no idea so much work was put into having a weapon—no wonder the others only had one or two different blades. 

As grateful as he was for the others for teaching him, Wild burned with shame and guilt. He would have known all this Before, when he was a knight.  No, that wasn’t right, he was still Zelda’s knight . Even as they gifted him this useful skill, all he felt was the ache of what had been lost. He felt...stupid, like a floundering idiot way in over his head. He  _ was  _ in over his head. He couldn’t possibly be called a Hero when compared to the others. 

He was a failure and had lost so much because of it. 

He thanked the others, but it felt so hollow. He hoped his expression wasn’t as brittle as he felt. 

Unfortunately, they weren’t done with Wild yet. The others quickly dispersed, but Warriors remained, looking over him with a critical eye. He fidgeted under the other hero’s gaze. “...You know, there’s a lot of feathers in your hair,” Warriors said. “It’s going to be a pain to get out tomorrow.” 

Wild didn’t see what he was getting at. What, he should deal with it today? It was already really late; he didn’t want to keep anyone up longer than necessary. But Warriors just sighed. “Look, I’m trying to be nice, so can you just sit here?” 

Wild cautiously settled himself where Warriors had gestured in front of him. “Turn around,” Warriors commanded. Wild complied. His neck prickled with the knowledge that Warriors had the perfect opportunity to kill him. Wild was unarmed, alone, and his back was turned to the other hero. He clenched his hands into fists and shoved them in his lap.  _ Trust,  _ he thought, and repeated the word like a mantra in his head. He didn’t want to believe that Warriors would betray him. He didn’t know what he would do if Warriors actually did. 

But the hero did nothing of the sort. Wild jumped when he felt hands brush the back of his neck, lifting the feathery mat of hair. “Relax,” Warriors said, and while he tried to make it sound like a command it lacked any edge. “I’m good at stuff like this. Just let me do my thing and help you.” 

_ Help you.  _

The words rang through the air with sweet clarity. Wild’s chest warmed unexpectedly, and despite everything, his shoulders dropped as he let go of the tension thrumming through him. “There we go,” Wars murmured. Wild felt gentle tugging as the older worked out tangles and feathers. He closed his eyes. 

A quiet filled the room, but it was a comfortable silence. That precious feeling from the field returned to Wild, making his chest feel incredibly light. He couldn’t help but smile as Warriors began to tell a tale of how he once managed to braid the hair of Zelda herself. It didn’t end well for Warriors, but he claimed it was worth it. 

<><><>

Wild hoisted himself up over the lip of the barn’s roof with a grunt. His skin itched underneath the moon, but it was better than being trapped inside. He couldn’t last long, staring at the ceiling in a too-soft bed in a too-quiet house. He needed air. 

What he didn’t expect, however, was finding Sky’s amused expression in his face on the roof of the barn. Wild startled back, nearly losing his grip on the roof. “Sorry!” Sky said as Wild clambered back onto the roof. “But, uh, you know there was a ladder right there?” He pointed to said ladder, only a few feet from where Wild had pulled himself up. 

Sheepishly, Wild shrugged and settled down next to the hero. He gave a questioning look to Sky, who gave his own sheepish smile. He fiddled with the edge of his Sailcloth, something Wild had noted as a nervous habit. “I’m...a little homesick,” he admitted. “It helps when I can get up high or see the sky.” 

Wild glanced up at the stars scattered against a background of jet black. “In my time, I live at Skyloft,” Sky whispered as he followed Wild’s gaze. His expression was filled with heartbreaking longing. “It’s an amazing place in the sky. We ride Loftwings, and mine, Crimson, is especially wonderful. I...I really miss it.” 

“...And Zelda,” Sky added in an even quieter voice. 

Wild slumped as he himself felt a little homesick. He’d only been gone for a couple weeks, yes, but he couldn’t shake the slightest feeling of being wrong, on an entirely different level than what was around him. It made Wild feel off-kilter.

And not to mention Zelda—

A wave of remorse and loneliness crashed over him. He missed her. He’d left her to handle something momentous on her own. What kind of a hero did that make him? 

Wild unhooked the Sheikah Slate from his belt and blinked as the light of the screen stabbed needles into his eyes. In an even brighter blue flash, a Silent Princess was in his hands—one of the few he had dared to pick. 

“What’s that?” Sky asked when Wild held it up. Wild delicately cradled the stem of the flower between two fingers. The softly curled white and blue petals made him warm with the memory of vibrant green eyes and hair like the golden sun itself. 

Wild offered the precious flower to Sky. 

“Oh, thank you,” Sky said in a small, reverent voice. With how holy Wild treated the flower, he somehow knew that this was a very special gift from the strange hero. 

When Sky had it safely in his hands, Wild used his own hands to sign.  _ ‘My Zelda’s favorite flower,’  _ he said, pointing.  _ ‘S-I-L-E-N-T P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S.’  _

“Beautiful. Thank you, Wild.” 

Wild ducked his head and nodded. There was that warm glow in his chest again. 

They laid back and stared up at the stars together. With gentle Sky, the uncomfortableness of the night felt a little less prominent. He snuck a glance at the other hero. He had his Sailcloth clutched in one hand and the Silent Princess in the other. Wild let the smallest of smiles curl his lips. Maybe, when they got back to his Hyrule, he could introduce Zelda to the others. 

He thought the princess would like that. 

~Bonus~

“Sky, why is there a cucco inside?” 

“Um. Well, in her defense, Betty was cold!” 

“DEMON BIRD!! AHHHH—” 

“WHY THE FU—” 

“Okay, okay, FINE, I’ll take her back outside!” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is. Four finally got some attention, whereas Wind and Hyrule got nil. Oops. 
> 
> Thanks for all the support and for reading! Comments and kudos, (You're never going to guess it but--) they're appreciated very much.


	8. Cub

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild gets his nickname.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I'm not sure what I have done with this chapter. It's really short, but it was also reaally difficult to get right. This is the first time I've had to completely start over a chapter because it just wasn't working. (Somehow Dark Link showed up and gave the story plot *but it's too late for that now*) 
> 
> Anyways, 400+ kudos, thank you all so much! 
> 
> I'm calling it, this is the last chapter. Enjoy

Time chuckled as he strapped on his armor. Wild didn’t know how he could wear that  _ every  _ day. It seemed exhausting. “Don’t worry, I have a pretty good idea where the infected monsters are. There’s only so many places with monsters in my Hyrule, these days,” he said to Twilight. Twilight nodded. “That must be nice,” said Twilight. “Not having to worry about where the monsters will attack.” Time shrugged. “It’s been years since my journey,” he said. “I’ve had a while to clear out the foul things.” 

Wild wondered at that. He tried to imagine his Hyrule, not overrun by monsters. It tickled the back of his head with a memory, but he quickly shoved it away. He couldn’t zone out on the other heroes, not now. 

“See you tonight,” Time said, kissing his wife on the cheek. Malon raked her gaze over the group. “Be careful, alright? I don’t want any of you coming back with injuries.” 

The heroes replied with half-promises and farewells. Then they were off, following Time’s lead. 

Wild eyed the field around them. He was baffled by how  _ small _ this Hyrule was. In fact, Twilight’s was smaller than his as well. No wonder the others seemed so unaccustomed to traveling when they went to Kakariko. 

“How far are we going?” Wind asked from where he sat precariously on Warriors’ shoulders. Warriors yelped and smacked Wind’s hand away from his hair. “I told you I would drop you if you touched my hair!” 

“No!” Wind shrieked, grabbing Warriors’ face. “Don’t drop me! I won’t do it again I promise!” 

Warriors was cackling. Even Time’s hard exterior cracked as he smiled. “It’s not far, maybe another hour of walking,” he said in answer to Wind’s question. 

Wild blinked at that. They’d barely been walking for an hour. How was the monster camp so close? But a glance to the others told him that maybe this wasn’t so surprising. 

Wild sighed. When they got back to his Hyrule it would be a struggle to get them anywhere. 

The hour passed quicker than it should have. Soon enough, they were peering over the edge of a hill down on the oddest collection of monsters Wild had ever seen. 

“Okay, I want our best sharpshooters to stay behind and pick off as many enemies as you can. Twilight, Hyrule, that’s you,” Time said. Twilight nodded and went to his pack, pulling out a strange mask and a bow and arrows. Hyrule cringed. “I’ll do my best,” he said, and grabbed his own bow. Wild raised his hand.  _ ‘I’m good with a bow,’  _ he signed, somewhat nervously. “...Alright,” Time said. He seemed to think for a moment, then said, “How about you take Hyrule’s place? Hyrule, you’ll go with Legend, Wind, and I as we take the eastern side of camp. Warriors, you’ll lead Four and Sky on the western side.” 

Everyone dispersed with the air tense with anticipation of a fight. Wild wasn’t given any debriefing on the weird monsters, no note on what their behaviors or weak spots were. That was okay, though, the others probably just forgot. Wild was just going to hang back after all; besides, eyes were a pretty reliable weak spot. 

As the others snuck to either side of the camp, he and Twilight positioned themselves for a better vantage point. Wild wondered how good a shot Twilight was. Did it have something to do with that mask? It resembled a bird and covered the top half of the hero’s face. 

Wild fiddled with his slate and settled on a Royal Bow. He glanced up at the camp. Hm. No bomb barrels, but maybe he could use some bomb arrows? Ugh. He was running low on both electric  _ and  _ bomb arrows, but at least he had over a hundred normal ones. He decided he would use a few bomb arrows before anyone engaged, and then switch to normal ones. Less fun, but it was also better for not accidentally hurting anyone. 

Another glance up told him the others were ready to attack. Wild quickly drew back three arrows with lit fuses, took a breath, and aimed at a thick clump of monsters. He didn’t hear Twilight’s alarmed yelp until after the arrows were flying through the air in a beautiful ark and landed exactly where he aimed. 

Flames billowed out and flung burning monsters from where the arrows exploded. Even from up on the hill, Wild could hear Legend’s and Wind’s screeched curses. 

_...oops.  _

Maybe he should have fired them one at time. 

<><><>

“You promised not to get hurt!” Malon scolded as she lifted Legend’s arm to get a better look at the cut. 

“Well, things like that can’t always be helped, ma’am,” Warriors said breezily, passing by with his armor gathered in front of him. Legend scowled at his back and Wind failed to hold back a snort of laughter, which earned him a nice swat on the head. 

<><><>

Wild gasped awake, clutching the threadbare blanket tightly to his chest. He took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut to will away the lasting images of the nightmare.  _ It’s okay,  _ he told himself.  _ You saved Twi, the darknut got you instead.  _

His heart rate gradually slowed back down. He cracked his eyes open to make sure no one else in the room had been woken up because of him, and quietly tossed the blanket to the side. He needed to get something to eat, or maybe drink…

He was tiptoeing over to the door, contemplating what his midnight snack would be, when he heard a soft noise from the back of the room. Wild turned around guiltily, expecting to see someone waking up. Instead he saw Twilight twitching, face contorted in a grimace. It took a moment for Wild to realize that the other hero was having a nightmare. 

He stood there, frozen and unsure what to do. Wake him up? Call for someone else? Wild had to force away his indecision, however, when Twilight called out a name. Midna? Midda? Wild crept over to Twilight’s side and gently poked Twilight with the handle of his knife. 

Twilight didn’t shoot up violently like Wild does from a nightmare; instead he snapped awake and curled into himself. Twilight sat there with his eyes staring vacantly for a while, and it was such a raw, vulnerable moment that Wild had to look away. 

Twilight eventually noticed the hero in front of him and sat up with a quiet sigh. Wild glanced up nervously and dropped his gaze. He moved to head back to the door, but Twilight’s hand shot out and grabbed Wild’s wrist. Wild flinched at the contact. 

“No, wait,” Twilight said. Wild stiffly sat down again. Twilight hastily let go of his wrist, and Wild drew it close to his chest. “Did you wake me up?” the other hero asked softly. He nodded. 

Twilight slumped a little. “...Thanks, Cub,” he said, then broke off to yawn. 

Wild tilted his head in question.  _ Cub?  _

Twi’s eyes widened. “Uh, forget I said anything,” Twilight stammered. Wild grinned. “No, no, it’s just something I—” Twilight groaned at Wild’s expression.  _ ‘I like it,’  _ he assured. Twilight blinked. “You...do?” Wild nodded.  _ ‘Can it be my nickname-nickname?’  _

“You’re...what?” 

_ ‘You know, because everyone has a thousand nicknames.’  _

“Oh, right. Well, sure. It’s just something I started calling you in my head.” 

Wild smiled.  _ Cub.  _ He felt that beautiful feeling of warmth stir in his chest once again, and he pressed a hand against his collarbone as if he could hold it there forever. 

For the first time since he could remember, Wild knew what that feeling was.  _ Love.  _ The sleeping heroes around him had become something of a family to him, and he  _ knew, _ right to his bones, that he would do anything for them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Wild finally gets to be happy. 
> 
> ...ofc that's not going to last...
> 
> We'll see when fic 2 comes out, I might need to take a small break to tend to my other projects I've left wilting in the corner. 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!


End file.
